


In Its Infancy

by PrincessJaybird



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Additional Warnings In Author's Note, Adoption, Age Regression/De-Aging, Babybones (Undertale), Big Brother Papyrus (Undertale), Cute, Family Bonding, Family Fluff, Flashbacks, Flowey (Undertale) Redemption, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Humor, Gen, Houseplant Flowey (Undertale), Hugs, Hurt/Comfort, Poor Sans (Undertale), Post-Undertale Pacifist Route, Slice of Life, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, a lot of crying, lab accident, sci-fi stuff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-18
Updated: 2020-05-28
Packaged: 2020-07-07 16:50:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 61,318
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19855654
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PrincessJaybird/pseuds/PrincessJaybird
Summary: In Its Infancy is set a year after Frisk broke the barrier. An accident at a laboratory causes Undyne and Alphys to bring home a baby bones Sans. Now, the monster family has to adapt to the new baby of the family while also dealing with a number of other obstacles and evils that lurk in the shadows, hidden away until it's their time to strike.





	1. In Its Infancy Cover Page

**Author's Note:**

> I first wrote this story on Deviantart and I decided to post it here too. I hope you all enjoy it, because it was really fun to write. I may go back to some of the chapters to revise and rewrite a couple of things, so keep an eye out. If you have any questions about my story, don't be afraid to ask and I'll do my best to answer them. Thank you for reading and I hope you like it.


	2. This is Gonna Get Really Weird

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm still trying to figure out this website, so bear with me on this. I hope you like the story anyway.

_ Ebott City, 201XI, one year after the Barrier fell _

The streets were dark, only the lamps high above lit the sidewalk, and even then it offered very little light on the cloudy evening. It was deathly quiet, not even the usual sound of crickets and stray cats could be heard outside. There were no cars on the roads of Everett Drive that night, and every monster in the neighborhood was now inside their homes with their families.

All except for three.

Papyrus peeked behind the curtain for the fifteenth time in the last twenty minutes.

Four thirty.

They were supposed to be back by four thirty. It was now nine o’clock, and there was still no sign of them. “WHERE ARE THEY?”

“Papyrus dear, please try not to worry yourself too much. Come sit down and try to relax.”

“I’M RELAXED,” Papyrus twitched, “THE GREAT PAPYRUS IS ALWAYS RELAXED.”

Toriel looked up from the book she was reading. She smiled caringly at Papyrus. “I believe you dear, but maybe you’d like to sit down here with us?”

The lanky skeleton peered out into the still night one last time then sighed heavily. He hesitantly shuffled into the large living room where the rest of his family resided. When he entered the room, everyone stopped their prior activities to meet his gaze.

Toriel, who was sitting in her rocking chair next to the crackling fireplace, smiled at Papyrus in a motherly way that encouraged him to join them. Frisk was lying down on the carpet drawing in a child’s coloring book, and she was nervously playing with her golden heart-shaped locket between her fingers. Her face soft and full of worry for her skeleton friend. Flowey was placed right next to Frisk on the floor. He scowled and rolled his eyes like he always did, but Papyrus never took it personally. Asgore was working on a big book of crossword puzzles on the old green couch, but he too had glanced up from the book and gave Papyrus a silent look of reassurance.

Papyrus smiled back at the monsters, human, and flower in the room, but it was a shaky, distracted smile. Dragging his feet and looking back every two seconds, he lightly placed himself down on the couch next to Asgore.

Everyone continued their activities after that, but there was a quiet tension in the room that seemed to make them less absorbed in their own entertainments. Their eyes kept shifting to the archway that lead to the front door. Papyrus anxiously tapped his fingers against his leg and it made a sound like two claves being struck together. His jaw was clenched tight and his thin oval eye sockets stared at the still hallway, hoping for a noise that would indicate the arrival of his brother Sans or his friends Undyne and Alphys.

Papyrus was rightfully worried. They were usually back from their work by now. It was the same thing every day. After Undyne finished her work day, she would stop by the lab where both Sans and Alphys were employed. There, they would all carpool together in a van the lab had loaned to them and would be back home with enough time to hang out before dinner started. Even on the days they were going to be late Alphys always made sure to call at least one member of the family so they would not worry. But today, Papyrus didn’t get a phone call like that. Neither did Toriel or Asgore, not even Frisk.

It wasn’t like her to forget something like that, and even though they tried to ignore it, everyone was unsettled by this.

“MAYBE I SHOULD TRY CALLING THEM AGAIN.” Papyrus said as he reached for his phone.

Frisk nodded her head in agreement. “Yeah, that’s a good idea.”

He pulled out his cell phone from his pocket and turned it on. He hastily punched in his number lock and opened his contact list. He had already tried to get a hold of Alphys and Undyne, but neither of them had answered his call. Maybe he’d have better luck with Sans. His brother, being the lazybones he was, was usually unreliable when it came to answering his phone so Papyrus didn’t try to call him first, but right now he was desperate. He hoped that Sans had his phone close by.

Papyrus listened anxiously to the dial tone, counting the number of rings it made. One … Two… Three … Four … Five …

_ “hello?”  _

“SANS!” Papyrus almost cried with relief at hearing his older brother’s warm, deep voice. “OH, THANK THE STARS. WHERE ARE Y-"

_ “knock, knock! who’s there? not me, so leave a message after the beep and I’ll get back to ya as soon as I can … beep.” _

Papyrus groaned. It was just Sans’s voicemail. He always forgot about this. “UGH! SANS, IF YOU GET THIS COULD YOU PLEASE CALL BA-” 

_ “you’re really gonna leave a message? sorry to break it to ya buddy but no one answers phone calls anymore; try sendin’ me a text … beep.” _

“SANS!”

_ “wow, you’re really determined to leave a message huh? alright, fine, this one’s for real … beep.” _

“ … SANS?”

_ “heheh. okay, okay, this time for real … beep.” _

Papyrus gave up at that point and ended the call there. He huffed annoyedly then turned to the faces of his family who were all staring at him expectantly.

“Voicemail?” Asgore asked.

Frowning irritatedly, Papyrus nodded his head.

A collection of disappointed sighs filled the room. After a moment of quiet, Toriel chime in something. “I’m sure there is a perfectly good reason that they are late.” she said, “Perhaps traffic was bad and they’re just having a hard time getting back. We should not worry so much.”

“Yes,” Asgore agreed, “I’m sure they’re perfectly safe.”

“Unless their car crashed.”

“Flowey!” Frisk scolded, “Shh!”

“I’m just saying,” Flowey shrugged with his vines. “Have you seen the traffic report lately? From what I’ve seen, those tin cans on wheels are just as deadly as a loaded gun. One false move in one of those things, and CRUNCH.”

He laughed sadistically at the thought, “They’re probably lying in a ditch somewhere, sprawled out in their own dust. Crying out in agony as they slowly crumble away into the wind…”

“STOP IT! STOP IT! STOP IT!” Papyrus launched off of the couch and stumbled toward the kitchen doorway. One of his bony hands braced the wall as he heaved sharp breaths of air into his ribcage, and the other one clutched onto the fabric of his shirt as his soul throbbed from his building anxiety. He was shaking so much his bones rattled against each other.

Toriel quickly rushed by his side, caressing her paw-like hand up and down against his spine in an attempt to sooth him. She shot Flowey a death glare, making him to shrink back and squirm. His golden petals quivered slightly at the intensity of her stare. Then he burrowed himself down to the bottom of his flowerpot, not saying another word.

After Flowey had hidden himself away, Toriel turned her attention back to the distressed skeleton. “My dear?” she held Papyrus’s trembling hand gently, “How about I make you some tea? Would you like that?”

Wordlessly, Papyrus nodded.

Toriel guided him to the kitchen table and tenderly sat him down on one of the chairs. She didn’t leave right away, she kept a steady hand on Papyrus’s shoulder until his breaths became somewhat even again. Once she was sure he had regained some of his composure, she walked over toward the stove to prepare the tea.

Even though Papyrus’ tension had reduced slightly, his was still in a stressed state of mind. He couldn't help thinking back to the scenario Flowey had created. The image had been planted in his mind like a seed and had already taken root, and it terrified him. He wasn’t too terribly concerned about Undyne and Alphys. He knew that Undyne had the HP to withstand a bad crash and Alphys might have been small, but she was tougher than she looked. She’d might be able to survive a blow with only a few injuries, but Sans … he had neither the health nor the defense to survive something like that, even if there was no ill intent.

If their van had crashed … All Papyrus could think about was his brother’s white, fragile bones flaking away into grey dust, leaving behind nothing.

Tears began to well up in his sockets and his breathing started to pick up in its pace again, but then Toriel came back with a small cup of golden flower tea. The skeleton jumped at the delicate sound of the china cup being placed on the table, but it also pulled him out of his mind and back to the present reality. Papyrus smiled up at Toriel gratefully, both for the distraction and the drink, then lifted the cup to take a sip of the tea.

It was just the right temperature. Warm enough that it made his bones feel toasty all the way down to the marrow, yet cool enough not to burn his mouth. It did a successful job in pacifying him again. He let out a deep breath that seemed to release the stress in his soul into the surrounding air where it couldn’t bother him anymore.

“Thank you.” he sighed softly, his voice barely above a whisper.

“You are very welcome my dear.” Toriel's voice was low and soothing, “There is nothing quite like a cup of tea to calm you down.”

There was a pause, “You shouldn’t listen to Flowey.” she said, “You know how he is.”

“I know.”

“They will be back soon enough, and then we will forget that we were ever worried in the first place.”

“Yeah,”

Toriel tilted her head to the side so that her crimson colored eyes could meet with Papyrus’ dark eye sockets. Her fuzzy forehead crinkled up when she smiled, and Papyrus couldn’t help but grin back at her. He was very grateful for her compassion. She was the closest thing Papyrus ever had to a mother and she had been so loving to him and Sans since the beginning. Even inviting them to live with her and Frisk when they first came out from the Underground.

Everything had not been completely sunshine and roses and candy for the monsters when Frisk broke the Barrier only a year ago. In the beginning, there were many fearful humans who hated, discriminated, or even attacked the monsters verbally and physically. But thankfully, there were also humans who were accepting and sympathetic toward them too. Charity workers and several politicians worked with the monsters to help them settle into life on the Surface, even going so far as giving the monsters a little section of a neighborhood to live temporarily until certain laws were finalize that made it so monsters could own property.

The houses in Everett Drive were very large and spacious. Just one of the mansion-like homes had at least six bedrooms, a marvelous kitchen, a grand living room, three bathrooms (which monsters didn’t really need, but was still nice to have), and a huge backyard with a little plot of land perfect for gardening. The government people had said that these homes belonged to some politicians of Ebbot City who only used it during the summer, and that they had been graciously donated for the use of the monsters for the time being.

The only problem was that there were only a handful of these houses for the entire population of the Underground to live in. Fortunately, a plan was devised that the homes would be shared amongst multiple families. Monsters started to find their roommates. All the dogs bunked with the temmies, Muffet and her family decided to live with Grillby and his daughter, and Mettaton and Napstablook paired up with Mad Dummy, Shyren, and a few other monsters.

Everyone had found someone to live with, except for Sans and Papyrus. They had a tougher time finding a group that wanted the two of them around. They had gained a reputation back in Snowdin for being a little … wacky, and this made the others reluctant to share a house with them. Thankfully, Toriel and Frisk had offered the two skeletons a place to stay with them, along with Undyne, Alphys, and Asgore (the later being Frisk’s idea that Toriel had reluctantly accepted).

They lived comfortably for three months with just the seven of them, then Frisk brought home a new addition to the family: Flowey. Frisk had said that she found the flower all alone and abandoned back in Underground with no other family. She wanted to give him a place to live where he could be loved. While Toriel and Asgore reprimanded Frisk for going back to the mountain alone, they could not say no to the soulless little flower and welcomed him in with open arms. Papyrus had been thrilled to see his old friend again, and Undyne and Alphys were just fine with the whole ordeal. Sans on the other hand had seemed apprehensive and less enthused at the thought of sharing a roof with Flowey for. Sure Flowey was rude, mean, and a little manipulative, but other than that Papyrus knew that deep down the flower was a nice person, and was actually taking steps towards changing to become a better monster. It took a while, but eventually Sans learned to tolerate Flowey's presence.

Old sparks were also ignited since arriving onto the Surface. Ever since escaping the Underground, both Toriel and Asgore had put their differences aside and decided to work together to adopt Frisk and become her legal parents. The process was slow and challenging for the lawyers since they’ve never had to make a case for two monsters to adopt a human child before. There was a lot of paperwork and it was frustrating for everyone involved, but the procedure ended up bringing the two boss monsters close again. Fanning the flame they thought had died a long time ago.

One night, Toriel had asked Asgore if they could talk to each other, in private. Everyone had gone upstairs to their rooms to give them the privacy they needed. From what they said later on, they talked about many things. About their deceased children, Asriel and Chara, about the human souls, about how they left things, and how they both did things they regretted in the past. Some harsh things thrown out in the heat of the moment at the beginning, but then apologies were made and mercy was given.

The next thing anyone knows, Asgore and Toriel announced that they were getting re-married. Everyone was surprised, but overjoyed by the news. It ended up being a beautiful ceremony. Both humans and monsters alike were invited to attend. Purple and gold flowers filled the church as the two monsters stood before the altar, holding the other by the hand, and staring lovingly into each others eyes. There was no dry tear left in the audience, especially for Papyrus. He bawled like a baby bones on Sans' shoulder during the vows. He was so thrilled that Asgore and Toriel had finally got back together. He could see the love that they had for each other, even back when they were separated. It was nice to see them happy again after all the hardships they had over the years.

Then things continued to get better and better for everyone. Toriel started going to community college so she could earn her teaching degree, Frisk was able to find a balance between being the ambassador to the monsters and being an elementary school student, and Undyne was hired to be the gym teacher at Ebbot High and also became the boys wrestling coach. Sans and Alphys were given jobs at the Ebbot City Laboratory where they did a bunch of secret sciency stuff, and things were going so well politically that Asgore was already arranging a future business for himself. He was planning on starting a flower shop/landscaping business called The Royal Garden (Toriel came up with the name. Asgore still couldn’t come up with one if his life depended on it), and he had asked Papyrus to be his first employee.

Papyrus had been ecstatic when he was offered the proposal. Ever since the Royal Guard had disbanded, he had found it difficult to find where he fit in their new life. While he did consider himself great in many things like fighting, cooking, cleaning, and making friends, he had a hard time figuring out new goals to strive for. For the longest time, when everyone else had left to do their jobs, Papyrus was left at home with Flowey to run errands and do chores. He didn’t mind this too much, but he wanted to do something more outside the family. He wanted to meet new people, make new friends, and be a productive member of Surface society. Being apart of Asgore’s flower shop would be his opportunity to do just that. Even if he couldn’t be a Royal Guardsman and protect the monsters of the Underground, he would do his best to become the greatest Royal Gardener and protect the lawns of the Surface.

The group had really become one big family in the year since their freedom. To the point that even when other houses became available for monsters to move into, none of them even considered moving out.

Sure, there were still bumps in the road, but in Papyrus’ eyes; Everything was perfect.

Well … mostly perfect.

For a while, Papyrus and Toriel sat in the kitchen in uneasy silence. The living room was quiet too, only the popping firewood broke the anticipating silence. But then, the sound of wheels on the driveway snapped everyone awake from their waiting. Papyrus’ own soul skipped a beat as his excitement overpowered him.

Without a moment of hesitation, he tore through the living room, down the hallway, and up to the door where he yanked the handle and pulled it open energetically. Asgore, Toriel, and Frisk followed close behind him, just as excited as he was.

The first thing they saw when the door opened was a large white van. Undyne and Dr. Alphys were already outside and on the left of the vehicle. The sliding door was wide open and they both looked troubled as Alphys started to pick up something large that was buckled in one of the seats.

“THERE YOU ARE!” Papyrus’ shout boomed through the whole neighborhood. The two monsters jumped at his voice. Alphys instantly dropped the object she was holding back onto the seat then leaped out of the van just as Undyne slammed the sliding door close. When they swiftly turned around to greet their friends, Papyrus noted for a second that their faces wore strained and uneasy smiles.

Papyrus, too enlivened by their arrival to care about his friends’ edgy bearing, tackled Undyne and gave her the biggest and most desperate hug he’d ever given. He squeezed her scaly blue body, lifting her off of the ground by an inch or two. At first, Undyne was hard and ridged, she seemed unsure about how to receive the affection. Eventually though, she returned Papyrus’s hug with her own. Although, her’s was softer. Like instead of being thrilled to see him too, she was trying to comfort him.

“We were so worried about you.” Asgore was almost laughing with relief, “When you didn’t answer our phone calls we thought something bad might have happened to you.”

“O-o-oh yeah, s-sorry about that.” Alphys stuttered rapidly, “W-we would have c-called, b-but we were … h-held back at the l-lab. S-sorry we w-worry you.”

“IT IS ALRIGHT DR. ALPHYS.” Papyrus said, finally releasing Undyne from his grip, “YOU’RE HERE NOW, AND THAT IS ALL THAT MATTERS.”

Alphys smiled shakily, but then it dropped. Her eyes kept shifting back and forth between the monsters and human before her and the ground. This mannerism puzzled Papyrus, and not in a fun way. Only then did Papyrus noticed that something was wrong. He hadn't at first because his relief had kept him from realizing what he wasn’t seeing, but he noticed it now.

Frisk spoke before Papyrus could say anything about it, “Where’s Sans?” she asked,

Alphys froze.

Suddenly, she started stuttering like a broken record. She was so nervous, terrified, about something, and it was like she physically couldn’t tell them what it was. This worried Papyrus tremendously, “DR. ALPHYS?” She flinched at his voice, so he lowered his volume, “Dr. Alphys . . . Where is my brother?”

With extreme effort on her part, Alphys forced herself to looked up at the skeleton. Behind her glasses she was crying and the tears rolled down her scaly yellow cheeks and dripped off her chin. She tried to speak again, “I-I-I-I … u-um … I-I-I-I-”

“Alphys, just let me tell them.” Undyne said as she placed her hand on her friend’s trembling shoulder. Papyrus could see the concern in her eye that wasn’t covered by an eye patch.

“Tell us what?” Toriel asked nervously,

Undyne stood up straighter, seemingly bracing herself for the worst. She painfully looked straight in the eyes of her friends. Frisk first, then her gaze slid to Toriel, then Asgore, then finally to Papyrus. He stared at her earnestly, fearful dread written all over his face. This seemed to strike at Undyne’s defenses because her posture faltered slightly, but she was still determined.

“Sooo, uh. Papyrus? . . . Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be a big brother?”

Papyrus tilted his head to the side like a confused puppy, “WHAT DO YOU MEAN?”

“Well,” Undyne cleared her throat, “You see-”

_ “wah? wah! waaaaaaaaaah!”  _

Both Undyne and Alphys went as stiff as boards. They looked back at the van where the cry had come from. The others also turned their attention toward vehicle.

“Is … is that what I think it is?” Asgore asked wide-eyed,

Undyne’s mouth hung open like a fish, coincidentally, trying to figure out how to answer her king. Instead, having no response to give, she ended up throwing her head into her hand, covering her face, “Uhg, he just had to wake up now.” she murmured to herself, exasperated.

Papyrus’ face lit up as he connected two and two together. “OH MY- YOU TWO BOUGHT A BABY!?”

The two monsters had different reactions to Papyrus’ exuberant comment. While Alphys blushed violently and bashfully curled into herself, Undyne gawked at him incredulously. “What! No! No we didn’t buy a baby Papyrus!” Undyne sighed heavily, calming herself down, “I’m probably going to regret asking this but … do you actually know how babies work.”

“PFFT, OF COURSE I DO.” Papyrus said, “SANS TOLD ME YEARS AGO. WHEN TWO PEOPLE LOVE EACH OTHER VERY MUCH … THEY GO TO THE BABY STORE AND BUY A BABY FROM THE STORK.”

Undyne stared at him for a moment, then exhaled deeply, “Okay … We’ll talk about that later, but right now there is something more important we need to tell you-.”

“WOWIE! THIS IS AMAZING!” Papyrus was buzzing with excitement, “I’M … I’M AN UNCLE NOW! HAVE YOU TWO ALREADY THOUGHT OF A NAME? IF YOU HAVEN’T YET, MIGHT I RECOMMEND YOU NAME HIM ‘PAPYRUS’. IT IS THE GREATEST NAME IN THE WHOLE WORLD AFTER ALL. CAN I SEE HIM!?”

“No!” Alphys shrieked, “I-I mean no. I-I don’t think you want to see him.” 

“Why not?” Toriel who had been just as excited as Papyrus only moments ago, was now looking at the monsters suspiciously, “You two have been acting strangely ever since you got here. What is going on?”

“W-We’ve been trying to tell you!” Tears continued to trickle down Alphys cheeks, “I-It’s all so c-complicated and-”

_ “waaaaaaaaaah!” _

The cries from inside the van got louder and Papyrus’ natural brotherly instincts kicked in. He leaped excitedly over to the sliding door to open it up. Alphys gasped and reached out to stop him, but Undyne grabbed a hold onto her shoulder and just looked at her straight in the eyes. An entire conversation passed between them without either of them saying a single word, and it ended with Alphys taking a trembly step back, allowing Papyrus to proceed with his action.

He couldn’t wait to see the little guy. He wondered what the baby would look like and if he would look more like a fish like Undyne or a lizard like Alphys, or maybe a combination of the two. He slide open the van door and saw a car seat placed on one of the seats. That must have been what Dr. Alphys had been carrying when he first saw her. Buckled inside, the weeping baby, that was only slightly bigger than a large toaster, was fidgeting in a blue swaddle blanket …

Actually, it was a blue hoodie …

Actually, it was Sans’ hoodie.

Papyrus recognized his brother’s favorite filthy jacket anywhere. Since the sunshade of the car seat covered the baby’s face, he had to reached out and grabbed the little bundle so he could hold him up and get a better look at him.

But once he did this, Papyrus became suspended in his shock. The baby he was holding didn’t look anything like a fish or lizard.

He looked like a skeleton.

And not any random skeleton either.

The baby’s mouth was fused together making it so he couldn’t open it as he whimpered. He opened his large, dark, circular eyes, which were still wet from his crying, and he stared at Papyrus. Two small dots of white light served as his pupils as he looked at the larger one with curiosity.

For a moment, no one said anything. Papyrus urgently turned back at Undyne and Alphys. They both looked incredibly guilty, not even being able to look him in the eye. He then looked at the other members of his family. Toriel and Frisk looked as shocked as he felt, and Asgore’s expression was one of disbelief. He turned his head back to the familiar little skeleton, who seemed to have calmed down a great deal since being held by Papyrus. He smiled innocently at him, like he was happy to see him.

Then Papyrus did something no one expected, he burst into laughter.

“NYEH HEH HEH HEH!” Everyone was startled by this, “NICE TRY SANS, BUT DID YOU REALLY THINK I WOULD FALL FOR THIS?”

Papyrus searched around the driveway as he spoke, holding the baby in the crook of his arm. “THIS HAS TO BE ONE OF YOUR WORST JAPES YET." He walked down toward the curb, “ALRIGHT, YOU CAN REVEAL YOURSELF NOW. YOU GOT ME. WE CAN LAUGH ABOUT THIS MORE INSIDE.”

Papyrus paused, hoping to hear his brother’s irritating laughter, but there was no sound other than the wind and the tiny baby babbling in his arms. Behind him, his family watched his desperate call with sadness.

“SANS!” Papyrus cried out into the street, “SANS THIS ISN’T FUNNY ANYMORE! PLEASE COME OUT!”

Still no reply, “P-Papyrus-” 

“SANS! PLEASE COME- AHG!”

He felt a tight tugging sensation from inside his rib cage. He looked down to see that the baby’s small skeletal hand had reached out through his swaddled jacket and was touching Papyrus’ chest, making his soul glow through his clothing. Then, the baby's left eye flared brightly with magic. It flashed through many different colors: red, blue, purple, green, yellow, until it finally landed on orange.

Papyrus' eyes grew wide and he gasped, slightly losing his hold on the small skeleton for a moment, but then regripping him. Holding on tighter than before, like he was the most precious thing in the world. Which to Papyrus, he was.

“S-SANS?”

The smaller version of Sans cooed as the orange color in his eye faded away. The natural light flecks popped back in his eye sockets and Papyrus’ soul also stopped glowing, but he was left feeling emptier than before. 

His mind was frozen. He couldn’t process anything. All he could do was stare dumbfounded at the tiny skeleton who was sniffling in his arms.

He only came out of this mild mental breakdown when he flinched at the sensation of a hand touching his shoulder. “Papyrus.” It was Undyne’s rough voice he heard, “I’m … I’m so sorry.”

Papyrus’ whole body began to tremble, causing his bones to rattle. He clutched his tiny brother in his arms and thought to himself over and over that this was all just a dream. It had to be a dream. It just had to be. It …

Undyne helped to gently lead Papyrus back inside. “Come on. I’ll explain everything.”


	3. The Explanation

_ Six Hours Earlier _

The waiting room was filled to the brim with humans in college T-shirts, and Undyne really felt out of place. She had already told the lady at the front desk to inform Alphys that she was here, but that seemed like ages ago. There was nothing in the room to do except read old human magazines or watch muted television. As a monster of action, this was her worst nightmare. Leaning against the side of the wall, Undyne groaned as she restlessly drummed her fingers on her forearm.

Patience was never her strong suit. Whenever there was something that needed to be done, she liked to deal with it straight on, no hesitation and no doubts. It served her well when she was captain of the Royal Guard, but there were times that her lack of self-restraint wasn’t helpful to her. Especially in a school setting.

She didn’t even really like her job at the high school. She would have much rather prefer to go back to her natural calling of protecting the innocent again. Several months ago, she had applied to the Ebott City Police Academy so she could become a police officer, but she still hadn’t heard anything back from them. She would have preferred to wait for their reply, but since she really needed the money for her family and the school was the only place that would hire her, she got a job there for the time being.

Before coming to the Surface, one of her duties was to train new recruits in combat, so the school board figured that she would be a good fit for a substitute gym teacher until their usual teacher recovered from a rope climbing accident that happened a while back. Plus, they wanted to integrate monsters, both as teachers and a students, into the school system so the human students could learn to be accepting, or at least tolerant, of monster kind.

There were many nice kids that were respectful and really enjoyed Undyne’s fiery presence, like the wrestling team she coached, but there were also a few kids that seriously got on her nerves. Undyne knew that children could be rude, but even then she was surprised by how some of her students spat out crude and racist comments like it was their second language. The parents were no better than their children. They were ten times worse and made it perfectly clear that they hated her and her species. It made her metaphorical blood boil like magma inside her veins.

Undyne couldn’t count the number of times she wished she could serve some justice on those jerky teenagers and their parents, but she knew better. If she even so much as touched those kids it would send the monster-human relationship back to square one, and she wasn’t going to be the monster responsible for that.

So for now, all she could do was bite her tongue and wait until the police academy accepted her application.

“Are you here for the presentation too?”

Undyne turned her head to the voice and saw that one of the humans from the college group had walked up to her. She had short curly brown hair, brown eyes that were highlighted by her glasses, and had a huge, excited smile on her face.

“No, I’m just here to see my friends. I’m just waiting until these people go through their STUPID PROTOCOL AND LET ME IN!” she directed her shout toward the receptionist at her desk, who generally ignored her and continued her work on her computer.

“Oh,” the human squirmed uncomfortably from Undyne’s sudden burst of rage, but she kept talking anyway, “Y-Your friends work here? Then, that must mean their working on the Renovar project, right?”

Undyne vaguely remembered Alphys telling her about an experiment with that name. But she hadn’t listen all that closely at the time. Not because she was uninterested, she loved to hear about all the lab stuff she and Sans did, but most of the time Alphys got so technical and scientific while explaining that she couldn’t entirely keep up with the conversation. “Uh, yeah. I think so.”

The human’s eyes grew wide, “Really! Oh wow, that’s so cool! I’m here on a school trip. My engineering class finally got permission to see the Renovar project. I’m just so pumped, this is the first monster and human scientific collaboration since … well, you know.”

She was referring to The War of Humans and Monsters that resulted in all of monsterkind being trapped in the Underground for hundreds of years. Rather than commenting, Undyne just nodded her head coolly.

“This is the first time they’re actually letting civilians in to see it. My professor is making us take notes and then we have to write a five page essay about the mechanisms and functions of the machine then present our findings to the class.”

“Really?” Undyne had a slight tone of annoyance in her voice, but the human didn’t seem to notice and kept talking to her. After what seemed like hours, but might have really been only a few minutes, the receptionist lady finally called out, “Ms. Undyne, Dr. Alphys will see you now.”

“Finally!” Undyne huffed as she pushed herself against the wall. Without turning back to the human, she said, “Nice talking to you. See ya around.” Then she pushed through the gates and into the labs.

As she walked through the hallway, she could see the activity going on in the other laboratories. All the walls were made of thick, shatterproof glass, so Undyne could easily look in on the different projects. It was pretty cool to see what scientific research the other scientists were working on.

One room she passed had a robot holding a color cube and it was turning the sides around until it made all sides a solid color. Another room had a lot of glass beakers with different colored liquids being either being boiled or mixed together. And another room was completely filled with plants growing on the walls without any soil.

Undyne kept walking down the halls, admiring the science that surrounded her, but then she stopped mid step when she heard a familiar voice, “Undyne! Over here!” She turned at the sound of her name and saw Dr. Alphys scuttled toward her. Undyne smiled and charged toward the doctor, and when she got close enough she wrapped her arms around her body and pulled her into an aggressive, back-popping hug. And after a few moments, Undyne let go.

“What are you doing here?” Alphys asked, catching her breath, but still smiling, “I-I thought practice didn’t end until four.”

“It does, but we ended early today.” Undyne responded, “There was something else going on today. The boys called it ‘Homecoming’ or something. They all seemed pretty excited about it, so I decided to let them go for today. Plus, I figured that it would be fun if I surprised you and the lazy bag of bones.”

Alphys beamed and blushed slightly, “Aww, th-thanks Undyne. B-But Sans and I still have a couple of things we need to do before we’re ready t-to go.”

“Yeah I figured, there are a lot of college kids waiting out in the lobby for some kind of presentation.”

“WHAT!” Alphys exclaimed, making Undyne jump slightly. She wasn't used to Alphys raising her voice unless she was watching one of her animes.“Th-They’ve been waiting in the lobby this whole time! Sans was supposed to let them in ages ago!” Alphys started to pace up and down the hallway, wringing her hands nervously together, “Oh no! O-Oh my! Uhh, Undyne! I need t-to do something really fast. I-I promise I’ll be right back. C-Could you just wait for me in the lounge.”

“Uh, sure but-”

“O-Okay good!” She was already rushing down the hall, she called back, “I-I'll see you there in a few m-minutes! F-Feel free to help yourself to anything in the fridge, but only if it has m-my name on it!”

Undyne stood there for a second, mildly puzzled, but then shook it off and made her way to the employees lounge like Alphys said. It was pretty easy to find, it was the only room she could see that wasn’t bustling with activity. She let herself in and, seeing that there was nothing else to do, turned left into the tiny kitchen to grab something to eat. This would spoil her appetite for dinner, but she knew that it was Papyrus’ night to cook and she didn’t really feel like eating another one of his spaghetti dinner for the fourth time in a week.

She opened the fridge and grabbed an apple and an opened jar of peanut butter, both of which had Alphys name on it. Undyne grinned as she placed the apple onto the kitchen counter and summoned up her magic from deep inside her soul. In her hand, a blue spear made of her magic formed in her hand. She glared at the apple before her, pretending it was an enemy for her to smash into dust. Then, after a deep, cleansing breath, she began to slash furiously at the fruit. She sliced through it with the sharp edge of her spear with enthusiasm and zeal. When she was done, she willed her spear to disappear, her breathing was heavier than before. Looking at her finished work, she felt a small sliver of pride rustle in her soul. She had managed to precisely cut the apple into sixteen chip-like slices.

Undyne smiled at herself. Even after months, she still hadn’t lost her touch.

She took her apple chips and her peanut butter to the sleek black couch that was in the center of the room and sat down. Then, she scooped up big globs of peanut butter with the apple chips and took a satisfyingly crunchy bite out of it. The creamy peanut butter combined with the acidic, sweet apple tingled Undyne’s taste buds. She allowed herself to relax and she sunk into the soft cushions of the couch.

Just as she really started to settle down, a thunderous snort disrupted the peaceful atmosphere of the room. Undyne, being surprised by the noise, launched up from her spot and summoned up her spear again halfway, until she noticed the thing, the monster, that was making the noise.

In the quiet corner of the room, at a small circular table, she found Sans with his face buried under stacks of papers. His snores vibrated in the surrounding air as Undyne stomped toward him. She snatched one of the papers that were underneath his limp hand. He must have been working on it before he fell asleep on them. It had lots of numbers, charts, and strange symbols written on it, and she couldn’t even begin to understand it. She looked down at the sleeping skeleton in a white lab coat and rolled her eyes. Once again, he had fallen asleep on the job. This was something he was a master at, even back in the Underground. Old habits die hard she guessed.

At that moment, Alphys entered the room, she was breathing heavily and her face was slightly pink. “S-Sorry about that Undyne.” she spoke rapidly, and a little frantically, as she tried to collect her thoughts, “I-I left the group with my co-workers, b-but we’re starting the demonstration s-soon and I still don’t know where Sans is. W-We can’t do this without him, b-but I don’t even know where to look first. W-What if something happened to him! What if he’s-”

“Al, relax. I’ve found him for you.”

“Huh?” Her train of thought came to a screeching halt. She shuffled next to Undyne and her face fell when she saw Sans passed out on the table. “Aw j-jeez. Not again.” Undyne could see the concern in Alphys’ eyes for her friend. The scientist reached out and shook his shoulder lightly, barely touching him, “Sans?”

Sans moaned in his sleep, but otherwise stayed as he was. She shook him a little harder. “H-Hey! Wake up!”

Once again, he barely responded in his unconscious state. Alphys’ polite approach on the situation wasn’t going to get him up, so Undyne figured it was up to her, as usual. Without warning, she slammed her first hard on the table, just inches away from the skeleton’s face, making it shake violently. The suddenness of the attack yanked Sans awake from his deep slumber. He yelp as he jolted up from the table, his left eye blazed as he manifested his cyan blue magic defensively. Some of his papers scattered as he jerked backwards into his chair, but he leaned too far. The seat he was resting on tipped awkwardly and before anyone knew it, he and his chair fell onto the floor with a loud THUNK.

"ow."

“Oh! O-Oh my-” Alphys exclaimed, covering her mouth as she rushed over to him, “A-Are you alright?”

“yeah, yep, i’m okay.” Sans grunted as he chuckled at himself, “don’t worry, i was just conducting one of my surprise gravity checks. good news, it still works.” He looked up at his friends standing over him “sup?”

Undyne sighed irritatedly, then she offered her hand to Sans, which he took. Pulling him up was nearly effortless. The bones that made up his body were hard, smooth, and very light, like one would expect, yet they were extremely flexible too. Papyrus had told her once that it was this flexibility that allowed skeletons to blink, smile, and frown, which would be impossible for a normal non-magical human skeleton.

She felt a little bad for startling Sans like that, and possibly causing to lose some HP, but she quickly dismissed the guilt. The little punk deserved it for sleeping on the job and shirking his responsibilities they way he did,

“Hey lazybones, did you forget anything today?” Undyne’s tone was harsh, but she had it this way to get her point across, “Maybe you forgot about a certain presentation you had today, or the fact that there was a group of students that you were supposed to escort in?”

As she lifted him off of the ground, she noticed the dull, dark bones underneath his eye sockets. Seeing this mellowed out some of Undyne’s sternness and mild concern took its place. Sans always had shadows under his eyes, no matter how many naps she’d seen him take, but today it looked like someone decided to use him as a living punching dummy. “Wow dude. You look terrible.”

Sans smirked hazily as he rubbed the sleepiness out of his eyes. “thanks for the flattering compliment.”

“N-No, she’s right Sans. Are you okay?” Alphys hovered anxiously around him,

Sans stretched his grin wider, but it seemed forced, “yeah, i’m fine.” he said as he leaned down to gather the papers that had fallen onto the floor. “just tired is all. guess i’m still not used to the whole ‘working’ thing yet.”

“You’ve been s-saying you’ve been tired for the past month,” Alphys’ eyes were scrunched up with worry behind her glasses.

“well, that’s because i have been for the past month.” Sans shrugged, “this job puts a real dent in my napping schedule you know, and i’m a person of _into-rest_. heh.”

Alphys ignored the pun, “Sans, I’m starting to think that this is more s-serious than you’re making it out to be.”

He groaned impatiently as he raised himself up from his bended position, carefully realigning the papers and putting them into a neat pile in his hands. “look, you’re making way too big a deal over this. other than the occasional attacks of exhaustion, i feel _sans-sational_.”

Alphys huffed, “Could you at least let me inspect you p-please. I might be able to find out what's causing-”

“i thought i already said that i don’t need you to tell me something i already know.”

“B-But Sans-”

He slammed the papers onto the table and Alphys flinched at his aggression. He turned toward her, his eye sockets had lost their usual twinkle of light, **“ i told you i’m fine.”**

“Hey!” Undyne grabbed Sans’ shoulder and turned him toward her, she glared down at him murderously, “Don’t talk to her like that. She’s trying to help you punk.”

Sans’ eye sockets were completely black. It was like looking into the void of space, and was honestly a little creepy. But Undyne wasn’t deterred. She glowered at him for the longest time, neither of them blinking, until Sans finally sighed in defeat. 

He slowly turned to face Alphys, his eye sockets scrunched up apologetically, “i’m sorry al.”

She stared down at the floor, saying nothing, and nodded her head.

There was a long pause after that, a tense silence clung to the room until Sans finally spoke again, “so, i missed the student group huh.” he asked Alphys, but it sounded more like a statement.

Alphys seemed frustrated by Sans’ attempt to change the subject, but was also willing to let it go, for now anyways. “Y-Yeah you did,”

“ah shoot, sorry ‘bout that. i don’t know what happened. one minute i was up and working, and then the next thing i know i'm on the floor.” he smirked at Undyne, who just scowled at him.

“I-It’s fine. I already lead them to the testing room. But the demonstration is g-going to start any minute.”

"great," The grin on Sans’ face spread wider across his face, “let's get this party started."

"Wait, a-are you sure you're up for this?" Alphys concernedly asked,

"totally, now come on. let’s go out there and _school_ these kids.”

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The laboratory where the presentation was being held was different from the other rooms Undyne had seen. Instead of glass walls, they put up thick steel that completely blocked the view of the lab from the rest of the hallway. Whatever was inside must have been really important or top secret if they decided to cut it off in a place that obviously wanted to show off their achievements.

Sans pulled out a card from his pocket and pressed it against a scanner on the wall, it beeped a few times before the giant metal doors slide open. While Alphys and Sans walked into the lab, Undyne just stood there, blown away with what she saw inside.

It was like stepping into a sci-fi anime wonderland.

The lab was HUGE. The ceiling was so tall it would have taken a fire truck ladder to reach the top, and it needed this high ceiling too.

In the center of the room there was an enormous machine that was five times taller than Undyne herself. The head of the machine was long and cone like, and the larger end was spherical and remind her of those plasma globe toys Frisk had shown her once. Streams of light quivered and danced inside, like fragile yet powerful bolts of lightning. The tip of the machine was so thin, it was almost like a needle compared to the massive size of the rest of the machine. All of this was supported by a sturdy base that blinked and flashed different colors like a Gyftmas tree. And spireled around this were twelve cyan orbs that throbbed with light.

Undyne was overwhelmed by the breathtaking magnificence of the machine. She couldn’t believe that all this time, Sans and Alphys had been working on this and she never bothered to check it out until now. She didn’t even realize she was gawking until Sans chuckled, “have you decided to come in yet, or do you still need time to _mullet_ over.”

This snapped Undyne out of her dumbstruck daze, and she glared at Sans as she let herself in.

There were about fifteen scientists working around the room, some were tending to the machine itself while others were conferring notes with each other. There weren't only human scientists there either, there were many monsters working there too, not counting Sans and Alphys. Undyne recognized many monsters that she often passed by in the Everett neighborhood, although she didn’t know them that well.

“There you are!” a single voice broke through the bustling crowd and Undyne saw a woman stomped toward the three of them. She looked furious. Undyne started to spread her feet apart, ready to defend, but then she realized that it was silly. This human obviously knew her friends, and Undyne was fairly sure that she wouldn’t hurt them. Regardless, she stayed alert, ready to intervene if necessary.

The human scientist got closer. Her long blonde hair was tied up in a ponytail, similar to how Undyne liked to keep hers whenever she was working out or cooking, and it bounced with every enraged step she took. It was only a few seconds until she was glowering over Sans.

“Where have you been!” she shouted, “Do you know how long we’ve had to stall for you! We are ten minutes behind schedule and the students are becoming impatient! At this rate we won’t be able to take questions at the end!”

“nice to see you too, beatrice.” Sans calmly and annoyingly said, “how are the kids?”

Beatrice grunted and massaged her temples, “At least tell me you have the SDT.”

“of course i do.” he said as he patted the front pocket of his lab coat, Undyne noticed a small, cylinder shape from outside the lining, “i’m not as untrustworthy as you think.”

“Good,” Beatrice then grabbed Sans’s wrist and dragged him, Alphys and Undyne followed close behind, “Because you have a presentation to start.”

“i don’t see why you didn’t just start without me.”

Beatrice stopped walking and glared down at him. “The University was promised that their students would have the demonstration conducted by the Principal Investigator, and sadly, that is you.”

“hey, if i remember correctly, you were the one who supported my rise to this high position.”

“That was before I knew how much of a pain you were to work with.”

Undyne snorted, “Tell me about it.”

Beatrice only now noticed the tall blue monster behind her co-workers. Her fiery demeanor suddenly changes into something more passive and friendly. She smiled sweetly at Undyne, “Oh, hello there.” She stretched her hand toward Undyne, “I don’t think we’ve been properly introduced, my name is Dr. Beatrice Stonebanks. You must be Undyne, Dr. Alphys has told me so much about you.”

“Oh. Well, it’s really cool to meet you too.” Undyne took Beatrice’s hand and shook it.

“I assume you’re here for the presentation too. Usually we're not allowed to let civilians in here unless they made an appointment,” She shot a quick glare at Sans, who just shrugged it off, “But if you really wanted to, I could just write you in with the other students.”

“Really? Th-That would be great. Thank you Dr. Stonebanks.” Alphys said,

“It’s no problem. Anything for a friend.” She smiled, she then turned back to Sans and frowned, “Now, why don’t we go over there so you can actually do your job for once?”

“sounds like a plan.”

They made their way behind the massive machine where the group of students Undyne saw earlier were huddled together like a flock of sparrows. An older man with a grey mustache, who Undyne assumed was the one in charge of the group, was the first to notice their arrival.

He approached Sans quite eagerly, “You must be the Principal Investigator of this project, am I right?”

“yep, you could say i’m the serif of this town.” he chuckled at his own pun, then he closed his left eye and reached out to the professor, “i’m sans, sans the skeleton.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you Doctor. I’m Prof. Henderson and let me just say that it’s an honor to-”

_ PFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFHT _

There was absolute silence. Not even the other scientists, who before had been bustling with activity, had stopped speaking. Then the tension was broken by Sans’ hearty laughter. It echoed in the room like bass drums being pounded in an orchestra.

He let go of the professor’s hand to reveal a pink balloon that was tied onto his palm. “heheheheheh! the old whoopie cushion in the hand trick. it’s always funny.”

Undyne groaned. Sans could be so childish sometimes. She remembered the first time he had played that trick on her, and she almost killed him for it. But she later found out why he did that trick, and it was more than just a prank he did to every new person he met. This was his sly way of using his unique ability to judge a person’s soul without them knowing.

“Sans!” Beatrice was horrified, she quickly turned to Prof. Henderson. “I am so sorry for my co-worker’s behavior!”

“Oh it’s alright.” Prof. Henderson chuckled slightly too, “No harm done. Believe me when I say I have experienced worse in my time as a teacher.”

Sans’ smiled at the professor, “you have a very patient soul. you deserve a lot of credit”

“Thank you.”

“of course," Sans went on, "if the schools paid you more you wouldn’t need it.”

Some of the students groaned at his terrible joke, while others tried to stifle their giggles unsuccessfully. This just encouraged Sans even more. “oh, you like that one huh? well, i’d tell you all a chemistry joke, but i know i wouldn’t get a reaction.”

The snickers from the group got a little more powerful. Alphys was the one who had to regain the focus. “S-Sans, don’t you think we should start now.”

“okay fine.” He cleared out his throat dramatically then faced the group. “welcome students of ebott university. you all can call me sans. and here with me today to help with the presentation is our head technician and my second in command, dr. alphys.”

Alphys timidly waved at the students. Her tail was curled up close next to her body, but she didn’t miss a beat, “H-Hello.”

“well, now that we’ve gotten introductions out of the way, how ‘bout we get this party started. let’s start at the beginning shall we.” Sans said as he rubbed his bony hands briskly.

“so, when monster kind first emerged out from the underground, your human scientists were very interested in some of the technological advances we monsters had achieved during our time under the mountain. especially the core, alphy’s robotics, even my own personal research on souls and time theories. they asked several of us if we could join their research and development team in ebott city, saying that ‘they always needed bright minds like ours.’”

“king fluffybuns, or asgore for those who don’t know him well, thought that this opportunity would make a good impression on monsters and convince people that we were not too different from them. and with all the crazy anti-monster propaganda that was being thrown out there, we figured monster kind needed all the help it could get.”

Sans nodded toward the laser in the center of the room, “this was our first project that was assigned to us. we were asked to develop a machine that could renew the state of old objects so that they could be used again. sort of like advanced sci-fi recycling. so, we came up with this beauty.”

The students buzzed with excitement, “we call it the renovar laser, and after a year of hard work, perseverance, and patience, we can safely say that we’ve done it. the renovar laser is able to make a ramshackled object at the brink of crumbling like new again. i would start taking notes now, because here is where things get technical”

The students took out their notebooks from their pockets and pushed their pencils to the paper, anxiously awaiting his next words, “now, it goes without saying that with a project like this, we’re come across a couple of walls we need to climb over. the first problem we ran into was finding the right energy source needed to make the test objects new again. sure, the laser functions on electrical power, but that electricity isn’t able to revert the physical state of an object. unless you want it fried. so we needed to find an energy that could.”

“with the help of the personal research i’ve done over the years, i concluded that only determination, or dt, had the power we needed. a human’s will to live is strong, and if a human with a powerful enough soul came along, theoretically, they could manipulate time so they could relive parts of their life over and over again. because of this, i came to the conclusion that determination would be the best, and only, power source for the machine. unfortunately, dt is very hard to come by, and since i highly doubted humanity would appreciate us experimenting on souls, i came up with an alternative solution.”

Sans pulled out a small, glass vial filled with a light red solution from his lab coat. The students gasped in awe for some reason Undyne wasn’t sure of. They were probably geeking out over the red stuff Sans was holding, but she didn’t get what the big deal was.

Luckily, the skeleton explained why they were so interested, “what i’ve got here is a concoction of my own making called synthetic determination, or sdt for short. it’s not as powerful as the original stuff and it wouldn’t be able to manipulate timelines on a large scale, but it can create a mild shift in the space time continuum that allows time to be influenced in a controlled environment.”

Undyne was impressed. She didn’t understand half of what Sans said, but she knew that he must have put a lot of work into whatever that red stuff was. Sometimes she wondered if Sans’ lazy attitude was just an act he put on for others. But she didn’t get why he would want to pretend in the first place. Maybe he liked to be infuriatingly mysterious like that.

He then turned to Alphys, an in an overly dramatic newscaster voice, he said: “and now the fantastic dr. alphys, will show to you how the machine works.”

Alphys blushed slightly, but took her cue to talk. She shuffled next to him and meekly looked out to the crowd students. “U-Uh, yes. S-So as you probably know, the Renovar Laser is a combination of old tech we used from the Underground a-and technology from the Surface. W-What we did was take some of the laser and force field technology from the Hotland area of the Underground a-and implement them into the mechanisms of the machine … I-I think the best way to explain how it works would be to show you.”

With that said, Alphys went over to the control panel that was a good several feet behind the machine and had a glass shield surrounding it. She started typing into a computer on the panel, then all of a sudden, the machine came alive. A soft humming radiated from the laser and into the air, and the lights blinked more rapidly.

As Alphys was working on the control panel, scientists started getting into certain positions that were obviously planned ahead of time. A group of monster and human scientists pushed and pulled something in front of the class. It was covered with a white sheet, so Undyne couldn’t see what it was. But when they pulled the sheet off, it revealed an old, broken down car. It was a miserable looking thing, missing three of its wheels, and had large dents in the hood, doors, rear, and pretty much every other place Undyne could see. Whatever paint there once was didn’t exist anymore and was overrun by rust.

“for this experiment, we will be using this car we found in the dump. now, i recommend that you grab a pair of protective goggles that are being passed around so you won’t be blinded by our brilliance. heh.”

A human began to hand out tinted goggles to all of the students in the room. They all pulled the goggles over their heads so their eyes would be completely protected. He even gave one to Undyne. She inspected them for a moment, then pulled them over her head too, making sure that they were secure. The goggles made everything seem darker, but after years of living underground, Undyne wasn’t too fazed.

Sans regained the group’s attention by holding the tiny vial of SDT above his head so they could all see it, “one pint of sdt is enough to power two test runs. lucky for us, the laser is able to amplify the compound, so it doesn’t take much of this stuff to get the effect we want.”

With that said, he handed the vial over to a rabbit monster who rushed it over to the machine. The monster scientist locked the vial into a tiny slot in the laser that fit its shape perfectly. The SDT was then drained out of the vial and pumped up to the needle part of the machine. The monster scientist hopped quickly away from the machine and rejoined the other scientists who were standing a safe distance behind the machine.

Alphys continued typing in more codes into the computer, then the light blue spheres that spiraled around the machine like a screw detached themselves from the laser and started to float in the air like bubbles. Undyne recognized them now, they were just like the force field orbs that she had seen back in the Underground, there weren't many of those things where she had lived in Waterfall, but she sometimes saw them whenever she patrolled Hotland or visited Alphys at her lab. There was something different about these ones though. The ones she was used to were more like staticy beams rather than orbs, but these little bubbles sent off the same familiar and unmistakable aura. Some human technology must have been added to change it to this form.

The twelve force field orbs began to scan their surrounding area with a cyan light. After some searching, one of the orbs found the old car and beeped to the others. They all flew around the car. They scanned the car and made beeping noises to one another like they were talking to each other. Then they aligned themselves over and around the old piece of metal like a dome. Undyne wondered what they were doing. Her question was answered when the orbs shot out streams of light that attached onto the car like a rope. They then lifted the car up into the air and began to carry it in front of the laser’s needle.

They gently set the car down then deactivated their light lassos. Undyne thought that they were going to go back to the machine after that, but they didn’t. Instead, the orbs began to connect themselves together with beams of light in a semicircle shape. At first there were huge holes in the dome and this made it look more like a volleyball net, but then the beams began to expand and close off those holes, blocking off the car from the outside. There was no way anything was getting in or out of that now.

Sans and Alphys looked pleased with this. Alphys turned to the college students to explain what was happening. “O-Okay, stage one is a success. You see, we need the force fields because the SDT can only be useful without other variables in the surrounding air to influence it. If we were to use the laser without the force field, it would result in the object being … i-incinerated.”

There was a tense silence after that statement, “W-We are now going on to stage two. N-Now i-if everyone could just stand back. This is still in the experimental stage, a-and I wouldn’t want anyone to get hurt.”

The students all took a few steps backwards like she directed, but Undyne stayed were she was. She wasn’t afraid of some puny laser. She had faced far worse things in her time as captain of the Royal Guard, and she was pretty sure she would be fine where she was now. Besides, Undyne really wanted to be close to all the freaky mad-science stuff.

The Renovar Laser hummed and beeped more intensely than before. It started to create a red sphere of light at the tip of its needle. It continued to build in mass until it got to the size of a soccer ball, then the machine paused, buzzing loudly.

Suddenly, a thin but powerful stream of light shot out of the glowing sphere and toward the cyan dome. At first, Undyne thought it would reflect off the force field and shoot one of them, but instead the dome kept its shape and the laser shot right through like a bullet through glass, but without the messy aftermath. Then everything became bright as a blinding white light filled the entire room. Even with the goggles, Undyne had to shield her eye, and she was sure that if she hadn’t been wearing them she would have lost the rest of her vision completely.

After a few moments, the light had diminished. As Undyne slowly peeked her eye open, she was amazed with what she saw. The orbs had already disbanded themselves from their hemisphere positions and were already automatically floating back to the laser and attaching themselves around it again, but what they left behind wasn’t the old car Undyne had just seen a few moments ago.

It now looked brand new. The rust was completely gone and was replaced with a shiny new coat of red paint. There was not a single dent in the smooth metal, the windows that were broken before were now fixed and clean, and new wheels had somehow gotten attached to the vehicle. It looked exactly like one of those cool sports cars Papyrus always gawked at like a kid at the toy store when they passed the auto store.

Undyne couldn’t believe her one remaining eye. This was incredible.

The college students behind her began to clap enthusiastically for the scientists when they saw the product of the experiment. Undyne herself found herself applauding the success of her friends and their co-workers.

Sans took the praise with his usual nonchalant attitude, by grinning wide and shrugging like it was nothing. But Alphys smiled sheepishly as she bowed deeply, arms at her side like the anime characters in her shows did when they thanked people.

The two of them and all of their co-workers approached the group together. “alright then,” Sans said, “we will now be taking any questions you might have. who wants to go first?”

Everyone’s hands went up.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The student group had left and the team of scientists were preparing to leave the lab for the day. They turned off computers, checked on the laser one last time, and generally cleaned up the area. It was busy, but instead of the anxious aura from before, it was more like they were excited to get back to their families. Undyne understood this, she herself was eager to go home too.

“G-Great job everyone. We’ll see you again on M-Monday. Have a great weekend.” Alphys said as her co-workers left. They had all completed their assigned tasks and were going home. Soon, Only Undyne, Alphys, Sans, and Beatrice were left to shut down the rest of the lab.

“i think that went pretty well,” Sans said, smirking cockily, “what do you thing dr. stonebanks?”

Beatrice sighed, “The presentation was conducted smoothly, and the demonstration went very well. I would consider this test run a success. However, your performance could have been better Sans. Your explanation was convoluted and disorganized, and your use of humor to begin the lecture was unprofessional.”

“in other words. ‘you did a great job sans. sorry that i ever doubted you.’”

Beatrice glare at Sans, but he didn’t even flinch.

“D-Do you have any plans for the weekend Dr. Stonebanks?” Alphys asked,

Beatrice’s face lit up, “Yes actually, my daughter has her Singers Company performance tomorrow. I’m taking the whole family so we can cheer her on.”

“well, send her flowers from me.” Sans grinned, “Alphys and I have plans with the kiddo too. Frisk needs some help with a school science fair coming up. She has to create an experiment using . . . u-using . . .”

Suddenly, without any kind of warning, Sans tipped forward and collapsed onto the floor. The girls gasped and dropped next to the skeleton. Undyne turned him over so he would be lying on his back. She tapped and shook his shoulders, but it didn’t do any good. He was completely unconscious.

“D-Dr. Stonebanks!” Alphys cried, “Get the first aid kit! Quickly!”

Beatrice didn’t have to be asked twice. While she had run off to grab the kit, Undyne was still trying to wake him up, but unsuccessfully. He still breathed, but is was shallow and feint, “Come on Sans!” she yelled in his face, “Wake up!”

Like a flash, Beatrice came back with the first aid. Alphys hastily zipped open the kit and dug into it, searching for something in particular. She let out a short sigh of solace and pulled out a small box from the bag. Undyne was confused at first until she read the label on the side.

“Ammonia inhalants? Like, smelling salts?”

“Y-Yeah, this should wake him up.”

She tore open the box and a small tube rolled into Alphy’s palm. With shaking hands, she cracked it like a glow stick and held it underneath Sans’ nasal cavity.

For a terrifying moment, nothing happened.

Then relief filled Undyne’s soul when Sans inhaled a deep, raspy gasp. When he opened his eyes, his light dots were constricted to the point where they looked like pinhead. He rolled over on his side and coughed aggressively, so much so that he was gagging on his own breaths. Undyne thought that he was going to throw up, she wondered if skeletons could puke, but then his coughing fit subsided.

He clutched his skull and groaned loudly, taking in heavy, irritated breaths. He looked up at Alphys. “what the … what the heck did you do that for?”

Yep, he was ticked off, but not as much as Alphys obviously was. “S-Sans! Y-You just fainted!”

“i … i did?” his focus slipped off into the back of his mind. Undyne could see him trying to figure out what had happened.

Alphys just stared at him in disbelief. She then rose from the floor, let out an exasperated huff, and began stomping toward the door. “That’s it. I’m getting my medical bag.”

“aw, come on al-” He started to stand up to follow her, but Undyne forced him back onto the floor.

“No, this is the last straw. Something is wrong with you, and you are going to let us fix it or so help me Sans I will-”

A familiar humming sound filled the air. It made everyone stop what they were doing. Undyne’s grip on the skeleton’s shoulder loosened, Alphys froze mid-step, and Beatrice ceased picking up the first aid kit. They all knew this sound. Undyne turned behind her to see that, somehow, the Renovar Laser had turned on again. She looked in the direction of the control panel, expecting to see someone pushing buttons, but there was nobody there.

With wide eyes, she looked back at Sans, who appeared just as puzzled as she was. “Is . . . that normal?” Undyne asked hesitantly.

“. . . no . . .”

“That’s what I thought.”

The force field orbs detached once again from the machine and began to float around the room. Nobody moved. None of them weren't quite sure what to expect. One of the bubbles floated closer to the small group on the floor. Unyne’s body tensed up. She reached deep into her soul and prepared her magic, just in case.

It flew to Dr. Alphys first, who was the closest one to it. Undyne could see her small body shaking even from where she was sitting. The orb flashed its cyan light on Alphys, scanning her for something. Undyne didn’t like it. She growled in protest during the whole process. Wanting to intervene, but deciding to bide her time.

After what felt like an eternity, the orb flashed once and left Alphys behind in her trembling and panicky state.

It then moved on to Beatrice, conducting the same routine on her, and flashing once for her. Finally, it floated over to Undyne. She stared down the bubble with her sharp yellow eyes, silently daring it to even try. The scanner flashed in her eye, and she instinctively she called up her spear in her hand and swung it blindly like a baseball bat. When she regained her sight again, she saw that she had hit the orb and had sent it flying toward the opposite wall. It made a resonating clang when metal hit metal.

“Undyne!” Alphys exclaimed,

“What?! I didn’t break it!” Undyne said defensively,

“Th-That’s not the point, this is very expensive technology. You can’t just-”

Something beeped behind them. They both turned around to see an orb, a different one from the one Undyne had hit, scanning Sans now. He held his breath as the light skimmed over him, and Undyne found herself doing the same thing. When it had finished scanning the skeleton, it flashed twice, and all the other orbs repeated its light pattern

That was when they started to strike.

They shot toward Sans like a hive of bees. Swiftly and with purpose. They shot beams of light out of their spherical shapes, but luckily Sans managed to roll out of the way and get back on his feet just in time.

But they didn’t stop there. They spread out from their swarm and started to attack Sans from all sides. This was when Undyne took her spear and began stabbing at the orbs to protect her friend, but it appeared that the floating balls were smarter than she thought. They were fast too, whenever she threw her magic spear, they darted out of the way.They kept getting out of her range whenever she got too close, and they flew high above her head so she couldn’t reach them even with her spear. While this meant that she couldn’t hit them, but it also meant that they were a safe distance away from Sans too.

Sans shouted out to Alphys and Beatrice, “turn off the machine. NOW!”

They didn’t hesitate. They ran over to the control panel while Undyne fought off the orbs and Sans did his best to dodge them.

Several minutes of this go by, and the machine still hadn’t deactivated. Alphys and Beatrice anxiously typed things into the computer, but it wasn’t giving them the results they wanted. Sans’ energy level was lowering too. Passing out earlier did him no favors and his movements were slowed and sluggish. He was just barely dodging the force field ropes as that shot all around him, trying to latch on. Undyne could see the beads of sweat rolling down his skull and the huge gulps of air he was taking into his ribcage. He was so tired.

Undyne tried to distract the machines, but it seemed that they were only targeting Sans. “alphys!” Sans gasped, “maybe you’d like to shut them down now?! i can’t do this all day ya know!”

“W-We’re trying!” Alphys shouted back, panic-stricken, “I-I don’t know what’s happening! Something must be wrong with the computer!”

An orb dove near Undyne, almost taking her head off, “Ya think?!”

They kept on coming, not tiring even though the rest of them where. Sans especially was wearing down. He never did have much stamina to begin with. Undyne had to give him credit for lasting as long as he did. As one of the force fields shot its light stream in front of him, he darted to the side. He was so exhausted he ended up him tripping over his own feet and crashing onto the floor. He grunted as the wind got knocked out of him, and Undyne turned back to see one of the deadly orbs flying directly above him.

“Sans! Look out!”

She called out too late. Sans yelped as a beam of light wrapped around his wrist like a harsh whip. He tried to thrash his hand free, but it had already latched onto him like a shackle. At its full speed, it jerked Sans backwards, dragging him across the floor. The other orbs following behind until they were right in front of the laser. They positioned around him in a hemisphere shape. Just like earlier when . . .

Undyne’s heart nearly stopped beating. She ran forward toward Sans ask quickly as she could get her legs to go, her spear was ready to strike. But by the time she had reached him, the machines had already connected their beams together and made their net-like dome over him.

Even when she saw this, Undyne hadn't given up yet. She thrust her spear into the openings that hadn’t filled up yet, hoping that it would give her enough time to free Sans somehow. But as the holes began to close in on her spear, it snapped in half and disappeared into nothing.

Sans pushed himself up from the floor and whipped his head around, frantically analyzing his situation. In a hopeless attempt, he began pounding his fists against the dome, but it did no good.

Sans was now completely cut off.

Behind her, Undyne could hear the laser warming up.

“No!” she thought aggressively to herself, “No no no no no!” She created another spear and began to desperately stab at the force field.

Sans’ eye lights went dark. “what are you doing!” he yelled, his voice muffled through the wall of light, “get outta here! the laser’s turning on!”

“I know! Why do you think I’m doing this?!” She kept pounding at the dome.

Undyne could hear Alphys and Beatrice shouting at her from behind the control panel, begging her to get out of the way. But she was so close. All she needed was a few more seconds.

“undyne, get back! don’t you know what will happen if you stand too close to the laser when it’s on?! it’s gonna vaporize you! you’ll die!”

“I’ve almost got it! Don’t worry! I’m gonna get you out of there!”

Her spear kept digging into the forcefield. She was so close. She was so close now. She thought she could feel the shield weakening under the duress. Just a little bit more.

The noise from the laser roared behind her. She could feel the heat of the machine evaporating the moisture in her scales. Sans’ gaze kept switching back and forth between the charging laser and at his stubbornly determined friend.

He lowered his head “u-undyne . . .” his voice trembled.

This made her stop and turn her attention to him for a moment. His whole body was shaking and his eyes were hidden. This startled Undyne, she had never seen Sans like this before.

So frightened.

So vulnerable.

He muttered something Undyne couldn’t make out. “What?”

Little by little, he lifted his head. Tears streamed freely from his eye sockets, and his left eye was lit up with his cyan magic, “take care of papyrus for me.”

Undyne realized what was happening too late. Before she could react and stop him, she felt a heavy feeling in her soul. Sans had turned her soul blue, and the next thing she knew she was being projected away from the laser and thrown against the back wall. The impact of the attack left her mind in a daze for a second, but when it cleared she saw Alphys standing over her worriedly. Beatrice was still at the control panel, trying in vain to get the machine to stop, and Sans was just hopelessly standing in the center of his prison of light.

He stared at Alphys and Undyne with wet, empty eye sockets. Even from so far back, Undyne could see his shallow and uneven breaths. Despite his fear, he managed to plaster on a huge smile on his face like he was trying to reassuring them, or he was trying to fool himself. He then lifted his skull up toward the laser, which was now fully charged and ready to fire.

And he closed his eyes.

“NO!”

The whole room turned white and Undyne automatically covered her eyes, protecting them from the harsh light.

The sounds from laser finally died down. Undyne was almost afraid to peek, but she knew that she would have to know eventually. Slowly, she opened her eyes.

The Renovar laser was … well … it was a mess. It sputtered electricity from loose wires and a dark liquid spilled down from the cracks of the machine. It wasn’t oil from what Undyne could tell, but she didn’t have the faintest idea of what it could be.

Beatrice came running toward them, frantically, “Oh my- Are you two alright?”

Undyne groaned, “I think so. Alphys, are you oka-”

Undyne stopped herself when she saw Alphys. She was trembling violently and staring blankly off into the distance.

The orbs that had been alive and in a dome shape a few seconds ago were now rolling on the floor, completely dead, and Sans was nowhere to be seen.

“Oh no. No no no. Sans no! Please no!” 

Undyne, Alphys, and Beatrice raced to where their friend had once been. Undyne kicked one of the orbs out of her way and slide onto her knees. She nearly cried when she saw Sans’ lab coat lying on the floor. There was nothing else left of him. Not even his dust.

When Alphys saw this, she sobbed brokenly into the closest being next to her. She held onto Beatrice for dear life and just cried. Beatrice tried her best to comfort the doctor, but it didn’t do much.

Undyne was in a state of shock. She couldn’t believe this was happening. She didn’t want to believe that Sans was . . .

She shook the thought out of her head. She reached out and grabbed the coat, not really knowing what she would find. Maybe something that could help bring him back. Luckily for her, she did find something underneath the fabrics, but Undyne wasn’t entirely sure if it was a good thing or a bad thing.

Her gasp brought the attentions of Beatrice and the forlorn Dr. Alphys back to her. From where they stood they couldn’t see what she was staring at, but it sent cold chills down Undyne’s spine. She carefully picked up the small form in front of her and held it far away from her body. Then, she turned around.

In her hands she held a small baby skeleton, wearing nothing but an oversized white shirt. His enormous eyes were closed and his body twitched in his unconsciousness, but other than his shrunken state he seemed uninjured.

The girls stared open mouthed at the baby Sans. After a long moment of horrified silence, Undyne finally said what everyone was thinking:

“Oh, crap.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In case it wasn't clear in the story, the only reason Sans didn't teleport away from the danger was because he was too weak to do so. He only had enough magic for something simple, like the blue attack he used on Undyne.
> 
> Undyne wasn't close to breaking the forcefield, she just thought she was. She would have died if Sans hadn't saved her, but of course she doesn't know this. So much was happening so quickly, so what happened to Sans wasn't her fault. But she'll often look back at this moment and think that it was. 
> 
> I hope you've enjoyed my story so far.


	4. Through a Child's Eyes

White

The first thing he could remember was white as far as the eye could see. There was nothing else.

Except pain.

Everything hurt. It was like his bones were being torn apart, reconfigured, then torn apart again. Ripping off layers of his body and mind over, and over, and over again. Not killing him, but close to it, and at a much slower rate.

When unconsciousness finally settled over him like a dark fog, it was a relief. He felt light, like he was drifting through nothing. The searing agony had disappeared and had turned into something numb and far away. Like a memory. It felt nice. He wanted to stay like that forever.

But of course, he didn’t. When he woke up for the first time, he found that his arms and legs were snuggly held down by something soft and warm that was folded around his aching body. For some reason, he felt smaller than usual, but he didn’t know why. He was sure that he was supposed to be bigger than he was now, but what happened?

He ended up letting the thought go. He was tired. His eyelids were too heavy for him to properly think, so he didn’t. He just let the bumpy movements of his surroundings rock him back into the comfortable darkness.

The second time, he was awakened by a loud slamming sound. His eyes groggily fluttered open and he blinked a few times to focus on where he was. It was dark, but nothing like the quiet kind he had come to know.

He could hear . . . voices. These voices came from somewhere outside, but they were muffled and he couldn’t see anyone. He was by himself in a strange, weird-smelling environment.

He didn’t know where he was.

He didn’t even know who he was.

He was frightened, alone, and so very, very hungry.

“wah? wah! waaaaaaah!”

He tried squirming free from the fleecy stuff that he was wrapped in, but he was trapped in it. Tears trickling down his cheeks in his struggling panic.

He cried out for the voices outside,

But nobody came.

At least not right away.

“waaaaaaah!”

After his second shriek for help, a low light flashed from his side and he heard the same slamming noise that woke him up before. Something huge was standing over him, but he couldn't see it clearly because his vision was too bleary from his teardrops.

He felt soft, bony hands curl underneath him and lift him into the air. He blinked out the tears from his eyes so he could see who it was that held him.

And in front of him he saw another skeleton like him, except this one was much, much bigger. When he looked at his holder’s face, a single word passed though his mind.

_ “brother?” _

He didn’t know what a brother was, but it felt like the right word for the taller skeleton. It felt safe. Whoever this was, it was his brother. He sniffled and smiled at him brightly.

Suddenly, the bigger skeleton let out a startling sound, “NYEH HEH HEH HEH!” It alarmed the little skeleton for a second, but then his brother kept talking, “NICE TRY SANS, BUT DID YOU REALLY THINK I WOULD FALL FOR THIS?"

_ “sans?" _

The word, the name, sounded familiar to the tiny skeleton. But what did it mean? He wracked his mind to figure out exactly why.

_ "wait . . ." _

A feint not-memory surfaced up in his mind. It was vague and unclear, but he was certain of its truth.

_ ". . . am i sans?" _

Sans' eyes grew wide at the sudden realization, _"brother, i am sans! i am here!”_ He tried to speak to him, but his brother didn't seem to understand the gurgled sounds that came out of his mouth.

“THIS HAS TO BE ONE OF YOUR WORST JAPES YET. ALRIGHT, YOU CAN REVEAL YOURSELF NOW. YOU GOT ME. WE CAN LAUGH ABOUT THIS MORE INSIDE.”

The skeleton searched for Sans, which confused the littler one. He didn’t understand why his brother was looking for him when he was already in his arms.

“SANS! THIS ISN’T FUNNY ANYMORE! PLEASE COME OUT!”

Sans meant to say, _“brother, i’m here!”_ but it came out as, “gababahea!” Sans whimpered with frustration. He needed to reach out to his brother somehow. Tell him that he was right here. But how?

He gazed up at the skeleton, and then he sensed something. Something vital and precious in the center of his brother’s being. The sensation was mesmerizing to Sans. Without thinking, he wriggled his hand free from his swaddling and reached out.

“SANS! PLEASE COME- AHG!”

A burst of magical energy flowed through the little skeleton’s bones and into the taller one, connecting the two together. Sans' vision suddenly became tinted with a bright orange color, and he felt like he could actually feel who his brother was and what made him up. He was able to feel his brother’s confidence, faith, and overpowering bravery and he could also sense his fears, worries, and his anxieties. 

Sans felt his hand slip from his brother’s chest and for a split second. He felt like he was falling, but then his brother caught him and held the smaller one closer to his body than before. When Sans looked up at his brother’s face, he saw that it was scrunched up like he was scared, but also in a way that made Sans sure that his brother recognized him.

"S-SANS?"

Sans smiled up at his brother.

He recognized him.

He knew who he was.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

Sans almost forgot how hungry he was until they had gotten inside. They had all walked into a room that was warm and brightly lit and Sans’ brother sat down, still clutching onto the smaller one in his paralyzed hands. A blue lady with long red hair and a shaky yellow lady were still standing up, talking nervously and quickly to the other big people in the room.

Sans got bored really fast, so his attention turned to his empty belly. It throbbed and groaned inside him and it felt like he hadn’t eaten in days, or a couple of hours. Sans didn’t have a firm concept of time at the moment and he has too hungry to care. The growling emptiness caused him to whined softly in pain, which caught the attention of the big, white, fuzzy lady.

“When was the last time he ate,” she asked the two women who were standing. They stopped talking and faced her. 

“I-I don’t really know.” Yellow Lady said, “I d-don’t think he had lunch today, b-but he always seems to be sneaking in snacks at the lab.” she laughed awkwardly, like she was trying to tell a joke but it fell flat. The fuzzy lady just nodded, got up from her sitting spot, then left the room for a moment.

After a few minutes of waiting, she came back holding a cylinder with a handle on the side and a long glass tube with a tiny balloon on the top. She sat in between Sans’ brother and a fuzzy man that looked a lot like her, except the pointy things on his head were longer than hers and he had long yellow fur coming down from his face. She squeezed the balloon on the top of the tube and dipped it into the cylinder. When she pulled it out again, Sans noticed that it had magically turned white.

She brought the tube closer to Sans’ mouth, and he grasped it before she could get it in. He could feel the warmth emanating from the white stuff through the glass. Sans was a bit skeptical at first, but eventually he pulled the tube closer. It fazed through his teeth so it was actually inside, and once it was, he reflexively started to suck.

A sweet, warm liquid trickled out from the tube and made his mouth feel cozy. Then the liquid seemed to bubble and change into something light and fizzy. This sparkling sensation spread out to the rest of his body and got rid of his stabbing hunger.

Sans’ eyes lit up brighter and he slurped up the food greedily.

The lady giving him the food smiled down at him and sighed with relief. Then turned back to the other two ladies. “You may continue.”

They kept telling their tale, but Sans’ was more focused on the delicious food than on them. Whenever the tube ran dry of the sweet liquid, Food Lady would dip it in the cylinder again and it would have more of the white stuff inside it. It took five whole tubes until Sans was satisfied, and it was around that time that Blue Lady and Yellow Lady had finished speaking.

There was a tense silence once they stopped. Everyone was staring at Sans solemnly, his brother seemed especially pained.

“HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.”

At hearing this horrifying sound, Sans’ body tensed up. He instinctively threw back his head and tried to extend his arms and legs through his swaddling. He cried out in fear, which prompted his brother to clutch him tighter and rock him gently.

Sans scanned the room for the source of the scary noise, and he found that it was coming from a weird looking person laughing creepily. His face had six golden circles surrounding it and his body was only a squiggly green line and an orange base. He was being held by a pink and blue girl. She was bigger than Sans was, but tiny when compared to the other people in the room.

She glared disapprovingly at the weird guy, “Flowey stop it,” she said a little harshly, “This isn’t funny.”

The weird looking guy, the little girl said his name was Flowey, ignored her, “Aw come on. You have to admit that this is hilarious. The smiley trash bag got himself turn into a baby. It’s like a plot in all those awful kids cartoons, or an online fan fiction written by an idiot.”

He kept laughing, which it triggered a lot of stress inside of Sans. He didn’t know where it came from or why he was feeling this way, but he didn’t like it. Not one bit. He squirmed uncomfortably as tears began to form in his sockets.

Blue Lady saw Sans like this then stormed over to Flowey. She grabbed him by the green line and yanked him out of his orange base. She bared her sharp teeth at him, “Hey! Shut up, punk! Unless you wanna sleep outside tonight.”

Flower didn't even seem scared, he just kept smirking. “Sheesh Undyne. What happened to that filter of yours. Did you leave it in your fish tank?”

Undyne. That was her name.

Well, Undyne then hissed at Flowey. Sans cried out because he thought she would bite his head off, and Sans didn't want to see that. But then, the giant fuzzy man stood up and walked over to Undyne. He gently took Flowey from Undyne’s firm grasp.

“Alright you two, that is enough of that.” He carefully place Flowey back in his orange base. He just scowled, trying not to look at the fuzzy man or Undyne.

“This is not the time to fight amongst ourselves. We must be united as one, for Sans’ sake. Right now, he needs us to be the mature, responsible adults that we are.”

Flowey scoffed, “That’s pretty sappy old man, even for you.”

The fuzzy man ignored him turned to Yellow Lady, “Dr. Alphys?”

Yellow Lady, Dr. Alphys, flinched at his words, “Y-Yes Asgore.”

Asgore. As-gore. Sans could remember that name.

Asgore kept talking, “Is there any possible way you can reverse the effects of the laser, and bring Sans back to his original state?”

Suddenly, Alphys, broke into tears, “I-I d-don’t know. I don’t k-know. I-I don’t even think I can fix the m-machine let alone change him back.” she dropped her head into her hands, “Th-This is a-all my f-fault. I-I’m sorry. I-I-I’m s-so sorry. I-”

Undyne knelt down put her hands on her friend’s shoulder as they shook. Then, Sans’ brother passed the small skeleton over to the Food Lady's soft, warm arms and then he went over to Alphys, and wrapped his arms around her trembling frame. Seeing Alphys like this, so sad and scared, made Sans feel unhappy too.

He didn't like seeing her like this.

It just felt wrong.

To show his sympathy for his friend, he gave a soft sound of distress.

“It is okay Alphys,” Sans’ brother said, which compared to his normally loud volume must have been whispering for him. “This is not your fault. You didn’t make the laser go crazy, did you?”

Alphys sniffed and shook her head, “N-No.”

“Exactly,” the tall skeleton smiled, “I’m glad that you brought my brother back home. I know it must have been difficult for you, so thank you.”

Alphys nodded then lifted two glass circles from off her nose then rubbed her eyes. She smiled timidly, and gratefully, at the skeleton.

After a few deep, calming breaths, she was able to think clearly again, “I-I may be able to change Sans back. W-We were already working on a different setting on the laser so we could age things forward too. I-It was originally going to be used on trees to make them grow faster so we could reduce the carbon emissions in the air, theoretically, but I think I might be able to alter so it can change Sans back to his true age.”

“GREAT!” Sans’ brother was back to his normal volume, “WHEN DO YOU THINK IT WILL BE DONE.”

“A-Ah . . . W-Well,” Alphys mumbled, “Um. I-It might take around- and this is just an estimate, mind you. I-It might take about . . . a month.”

All the people in the room, stared at her with their mouths opened. Except Sans who one: didn’t really know what they were talking about, and two: physically couldn’t open his mouth.

“A month?”

“O-or two.”

“Two!”

“Hey,” Undyne took Alphy’s defense, “Cut her some slack. That laser thing is totally busted. I’m sure just figuring out which parts need to be fixed would take a week alone.”

Asgore spoke up, “Yes, that is completely understandable, but . . . two months? That's a long amount of time, especially for an infant.”

“I-I know, I’m sorry. I promise you all that I-I’ll work as fast as I can to fix it. We’ll just need to be p-patient.”

“So what are we supposed to do with the bag of bones until then?” Flowey asked, looking like he really didn’t care all that much “Throw him in an orphanage?”

“Of course not. We are all going to care for him.” Asgore said,

Food Lady’s face lit up and she stood up next to the Asgore, “I know a few women in some of my classes that would be willing to loan us some baby supplies. I can ask them about it tomorrow. I can also come up with a schedule that will evenly distribute the tasks of child care between us all. I would be willing to come home early from my classes, and maybe-”

“THANK YOU LADY TORIEL,” Sans’ brother said, as he reclaimed the tiny skeleton from the fuzzy woman's arms, “BUT YOU DON’T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT MAKING A SCHEDULE. I CAN TAKE CARE OF SANS BY MYSELF.”

So Toriel was Food Lady’s real name. Sans secretly thought his version fit her better.

“Oh,” Toriel sounded a little disappointed, “Are you sure my dear?” she asked,

“OF COURSE. YOU FORGET THAT I’VE BEEN TAKING CARE OF SANS SINCE FOREVER. WAY BEFORE . . . THIS.”

“Buddy,” Undyne said, “Taking care of a baby is way different that taking care of a man child . . . Well, maybe not, but still. Do you even know what you’re doing?”

“OF COURSE I DO. I KNOW I CAN DO IT ON MY OWN. I CAN HANDLE THIS.”

“But-”

“NO BUTS. SANS IS MY RESPONSIBILITY, AND I DON’T WANT ANY OF YOU TO WORRY ABOUT HIM. YOU CAN JUST GO ABOUT YOUR NORMAL BUSINESS. HE’S IN GOOD HANDS.” Sans looked up to see his brother standing tall and confidently, determination sparkling in his eyes.

Man, his brother was so cool.

“Are you sure?” Asgore asked,

“ABSOLUTELY.”

Toriel sighed, but then nodded her head, “Alright, fine. We’ll stay out of this, but if you have any trouble please don’t be afraid to ask for help.”

“DO NOT WORRY, WE’LL BE FINE.” While his brother was speaking, Sans let out a big yawn and he was finding it harder to keep his eyes open. His brother noticed the smaller one's exhaustion. “NOW, IF YOU ALL DON’T MIND, I’LL GO GET SANS READY FOR BED.”

“Really?” Flowey asked with annoyed surprise “Wasn’t he just asleep for like, half the day?”

“H-He was passed out y-yes,” Alphys replied, “But the laser used up a lot of his magical energy during the renewing process. H-He’ll need a couple of days before he’s fully recovered his magic level. S-So, yeah, getting a lot of sleep would be good for him.”

“We could all use some sleep.” Toriel said. She reached out to the little blue and pink girl, “Come along Frisk, it's past your bedtime too.”

Frisk. The little girl's name was Frisk. There were so many new names Sans needed to remember. There was Undyne, Alphys, Asgore, Flowey, Toriel, Frisk, and . . .

Just then, Sans realized that he didn’t remember his own brothers name. No one said it during the conversation? He then felt incredibly guilty. This was something he should know, right?

He looked up at the lanky skeleton and asked, “dababa?” But he didn’t answer. Sans noticed that his brother seemed very eager to leave the room. Really eager.

“I WILL SEE YOU ALL IN THE MORNING. GOOD NIGHT.”

And before anyone could reply, Sans’ brother had already carried him to another room. Then it seemed to Sans like the floor was getting really steep, because the two of them kept going up, up, up until they were way above the ground.

His brother then flew into another room that Sans guessed belonged to the skeleton. He closed the door behind him then carried Sans over to a unusually-shaped red thing with black circles on the bottom. When his brother sat down on it, the surface bounced slightly, which Sans found amusing.

The taller skeleton scooted himself to the end of the springy rectangle so that his back was supported by the wall. He stared at Sans for a solid minute, looking deep into his hollow eye sockets, before he began to sob silently to himself. His shoulders quivered with every shaky breath he took into his ribcage, and his bones made strange sounds as they clattered together.

“Oh, Sans.” He cried quietly,

Sans’ figurative heart broke at the sight of his crestfallen brother. He didn’t want him to be sad, his brother was never supposed to be sad, so he decided to fix that. He reached out for the taller skeleton’s chest. Once again, his chest glowed through his clothing and made Sans’ vision tinted with orange. This seemed to distract Papyrus for the moment and he looked down at the smaller one with a somber smile. He brushed the back of his hand across Sans’ skull and hugged him close to his bony body.

As he leaned back against the wall, his eye sockets still moist from his tears, he whispered softly, “Do not worry brother. I, The Great Papyrus, will protect you. No harm shall come upon you while I’m around. I promised.”

Papyrus. His brother’s name was Papyrus.

Sans smiled at him as he let out a big yawn. Feeling safe in his brother's arms, he slowly closing his eyes. Letting the quiet darkness take him over again.

Sans still may have not known who he was, who all those people below him were, or what was going on around him. But he trusted his brother, and believed that he would keep his promise.

With that comforting thought, and the feeling of Papyrus’ chest moving up and down evenly, he quickly fell fast into his own dreamland.

He only woke up in the night once. He stretched out his limbs the best that he could in his swaddling and rubbed his eye sockets. Papyrus had fallen asleep sitting up and he was still holding Sans close in his arms. There was no one else in the peacefully still room that Sans could see except himself, his brother, and a tall shadow that stood in the corner of the room.

He was kind of scary looking. His face was sickly white and had cracks in it that forced his right eye closed. His dark body was slim and it seemed to drip on the floor. Despite this appearance, Sans wasn’t afraid. In fact, he was overjoyed to see him.

He beamed and giggled as he reached out his hand toward the shadow. The shadow man was mildly shocked by Sans reaction to him. He hesitantly slide across the floor, getting nearer and nearer to the tiny skeleton. When he was close enough to touch Sans, the baby noticed that the shadowy man had enormous holes in the palms of his white, skeletal hands.

He lightly stroked Sans’ forehead with his thumb, and he gazed at him with a mixed expression of sorrow and joy. Sans tried to grab onto him, but his own hand passed through the shadow man’s arm like he was made of nothing but air.

They stayed like this for a long time, Sans smiled up at him the whole time, but then the shadow man’s form started to flicker. He noticed this and sighed sadly. The man smiled at Sans bittersweetly, studying the little skeleton’s eye lights one last time.

Then he spoke to Sans in a strange language. But oddly enough, it was very calming and he understood what he was saying.

" _ **Be strong Sans. Your troubles are just beginning.**_ "

And then he melted away into the night. Leaving the little skeleton alone in the darkness once again.

The little skeleton scanned the room in search of the shadow, but he couldn’t see him anywhere. When he realized this he cried out, begging the man to come back.

But he didn’t.

Sans’ heart-wrenching wail broke the tranquility of the night and shook the whole house awake.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Normally I would try to avoid using words like "thing" or "stuff" in my narrative writing, but since Sans is now a tiny baby bones, I've got to see the world the way an infant would.
> 
> Right now, Sans only understands a few thing like: shapes, colors, sensations, and a some words he picks up from others. So, that is what he uses to describe people and his surroundings. However, there is still some part of him hidden deep in his mind that remembers his adult life. This part also helps him recognize his family, even if he can't access any memories of them.


	5. A Near Death Experience

Flowey chugged down his third cup of coffee, ignoring the burning sensation as it slipped through his stem. He really needed the extra boost that morning.

The three days since Undyne and Alphys brought home the baby Sans had been a living nightmare. The other ‘family’ members might disagree with him out of pure kindness, but there was no way to sugar coat this. Plain and simple: Papyrus was an idiot.

He had no idea how to take care of Sans now. Apparently, all those years taking care of his lazy brother meant nothing.

One example of this: it wasn’t unusual for Sans to wake up in the middle of the night (sometimes because of a nightmare, and other times to take a quick swig from his secret ketchup stash), but he never dared to bothered anyone else with his own problems, whether for the sake of others or his own dumb pride.

However, baby Sans was way different. He cried every night, begging for attention and comfort, waking up the whole house, the whole neighborhood, in the process. Each night, both Toriel and Papyrus would go downstairs to lull the little skeleton back to sleep. And every night, Toriel would offer to help, saying that she was practically an expert in this field. But every night Papyrus would rebuff Toriel’s assistance and and confidently assure her that he had this covered until Toriel reluctantly went back to bed.

Then, it would take him TWO HOURS to get the tiny trash bag quiet down.

The worst part about it was that since they had the crib they borrowed downstairs in the living room, Flowey had a front row seat to all of it. Every ear-splitting screech and salty tear shed. He had to withstand it all.

This was insanity! Baby Sans was much needier than adult Sans, and they were all losing sleep because of it.

Sure, he was all calm and happy now. All curled up in Toriel’s warm, soft arms, being rocked in a soothing, rhythmic manner. But honestly, Flowey had enough. He didn’t care what happened to the tiny trash bag, he just wanted him to be thrown outside like the garbage he was. Either that or he would have to consider moving into the garden.

Luckily for him, the other residents of the house had also reached their limit, and were preparing to take action.

“He’s coming down.” Frisk whispered,

“Ugh, I don’t see why I have to be here.” Flowey grumbled as he took another gulp of the scalding coffee.

“Because like it or not, you are just as much a part of this family as any of us,” Toriel said as she swayed back and forth on the balls of her feet. Sans rested his tiny skull on her shoulder. His pinpoint lights peeked between the opened slits of his eyes and looked down at Flowey sleepily, “And right now Papyrus needs all of our love and support.”

“You’re asking the wrong flower for that lady.”

“Shh, shh.”

The monsters downstairs shuffled restlessly in the living room, trying to act as natural as they could. Flowey listened to Papyrus’ loud, sluggish steps on the staircase. Each step he took sounded like all of his weight was being supported on that leg. Flowey glanced up to see concern etched clearly on the faces of the people around him. He just scoffed, it was a waste of emotions.

When Papyrus finally dragged himself into the family room, the flower noticed that he looked worse than yesterday. He appeared unfocused, but not in his usual high energy way, it was more lethargic. Light shadows started to grow underneath his eye sockets, which themselves were half-way closed. Flowey realized that he was witnessing a rare phenomenon: an exhausted Papyrus.

As he struggled to open his heavy eyes, the scene of his family watching him worriedly in the living room motivated him to stand up taller and give them a confident, and clearly fake, smile. “GOOD MORNING EVERYONE!”

“Good morning,” they all repeated back, it was monotonous and automatic. They had much more pressing matters on their mind.

Papyrus’ eyes instantly went to Sans in Toriel’s arms. “OH, THANK YOU LADY TORIEL.” he said as he walked toward her, his arms extended, “BUT I CAN TAKE HIM FROM HERE. YOU DON’T HAVE TO WORRY.”

As Papyrus came within arm’s length, Toriel reluctantly passed over the half-asleep Sans over to his brother. Surprised by the sudden exchange, Sans gave a short whimper. But once the tiny skeleton gazed up drowsily at Papyrus’ face, he quickly complied and curled into his brother’s warm embrace. Nuzzling his face deep into the red fabric of the scarf around his neck.

Satisfied by his brother’s comfort, Papyrus began to make his way into the kitchen, most likely to grab something for himself and Sans to eat. But before he could get far, a gently yet firm hand grabbed his shoulder. It was the hand of the former King of the Monsters.

“Papyrus,” he said, his voice sounded very formal and king-like, which seemed to make Papyrus a little nervous. “We need to talk.”

Papyrus’ gaze flickered around the room, like he seemed to just notice that he was surrounded, “AM . . . AM I IN TROUBLE.” he asked innocently. Flowey rolled his eyes. Only Papyrus would be worried about that.

“Of course not my dear.” Toriel reassured, the lanky skeleton’s tension loosened up slightly, “We just want to talk. That is all.”

“OKAY THEN . . . WHAT IS IT?”

There was a pause for a moment, Everyone seemed too polite, or maybe too afraid to say what they were thinking. But Flowey, being the blatant flower that he was, decided that it was up to him to rip the bandaid off, with a bit of embellishing to grab their attention, “They don’t think you should be taking care of Sans anymore. They’re going to take him away from you and throw him into foster care.”

“WHAT!?” Papyrus exclaimed, clutching Sans tighter. Luckily, the tiny skeleton remained how he was regardless and continued to sleep in his brother’s arms.

“N-No, no that’s not it.” Dr. Alphys said, shooting Flowey an annoyed glare. The flower just grinned mischievously at the slight panic he caused.

“It’s just that . . .” Dr. Alphys sighed, this was obviously killing her on the inside, “W-We just think that y-you taking care of Sans by yourself i-is starting to take a n-negative toll on your health. Th-That’s all.”

“I DON’T KNOW WHAT YOU’RE TALKING ABOUT. I’VE NEVER FELT MORE ENERGIZED IN MY WHOLE-” A big yawn escaped him and cut off his words. His cheeks flushed a light orange as his mouth inadvertently betrayed him.

Undyne walked up close to Papyrus, getting pretty close up in his face. “Oh, yeah?” she asked roughly, her arms were crossed over her chest.

“YEAH!”

“Alright then, answer me this: when was the last time you actually went outside, and I don’t mean to take out the garbage or run errands. I mean actually enjoying yourself.”

Papyrus opened his mouth to reply, but no words came out. After a few awkward seconds, his jaw was still hung open, and he still hadn’t said anything.

Undyne sighed, then answered for him, “It was three days ago. We went on our morning run. Remember that?”

“Yes, I guess it has been a while since we did that.” Papyrus mumbled, looking down at his tiny brother as he rubbed the back of his skull gently, “BUT THAT’S ONLY BECAUSE I HAVE BEEN WORKING HARD TO TAKE CARE OF SANS AND THE HOUSE.”

“We know, and we are very grateful for all of your hard work.” Toriel said, being as gentle with her words as she could, “but we also want to help you.”

“YOU HAVE HELPED ME.” Papyrus pointed out proudly, like this was an accomplishment on their part, “YOU MANAGED TO GET ALL THESE BABY SUPPLIES FOR FREE.”

This was true. A couple days ago, Toriel had called some of her school friends and they practically drowned the house with baby junk. They brought everything from a foldable crib to a box of pacifiers, which they assured were properly sanitized. Toriel even went into town to go shopping for baby clothes so Sans wouldn’t have to wear a pinned up T-shirt. Unfortunately, no one else was there with her, so they were mostly onesies that had lame puns written on the front. Even now, the blue onesie Sans was wearing said: ‘I prefer my puns intended’ on the front. Papyrus cringed when he saw this, but he accepted the gifts nonetheless.

Papyrus seemed fine with this kind of help, but when it came to actually caring for his brother, he was a complete baby control freak. He made sure he was always the one to feed Sans, he never let anyone else put him down for his naps, he barely even let anyone even hold him because he was always carrying him in his arms or with blue magic.

Flowey was honestly glad about this. He didn’t want to be anywhere near the mini trash bag, but he could tell that it was driving the others a little crazy.

It was painfully clear that the added responsibility placed on Papyrus’ shoulders were starting to weigh him down. Before the whole baby situation, he would always be the first one up in the morning. But lately he had been sleeping in to compensate for the late nights he spent with Sans. He was slacking on his chores yet still insisted on doing them all, and he was ignoring the rest of the family. Not on purpose, but it still made them worry.

“P-Papyrus, try to understand. The way you’re l-living right now isn’t healthy, even for a skeleton.” Alphys stuttered, wringing her claws anxiously “If you keep this up you’ll eventually hit your breaking point. And believe me wh-when I say it is not a fun experience.”

“We just want to help you now before this becomes a real problem.” Asgore said, “You don’t have to do this alone. I would be more than happy to stay behind to assist you if-”

“WHAT?! NO YOUR MAJESTY, YOU CAN’T DO THAT! YOU HAVE AN IMPORTANT MEETING AT THE CITY COUNCIL TODAY! YOU CAN’T STAY HOME!”

“It is not so important to allow you to shoulder this responsibility on your own.”

“NO. I WON’T ALLOW IT. YOU WILL BE ATTENDING THAT MEETING.”

Toriel was the next one to step up, “What if I stayed home. I don’t have any important classes today. It would be no problem on my part.”

“BUT WHAT IF THEY ARE DISCUSSING A CRUCIAL PROJECT THAT WILL BECOME FIFTY PERCENT OF YOUR GRADE. I DON’T WANT TO BECOME THE REASON YOU DON’T BECOME A TEACHER.”

“Papyrus! Cut the crap.” Undyne was becoming impatient with the tall skeleton now. “Stop pushing us out! We don’t want you to have to take care of Sans alone. Flowey sure isn’t gonna help you!” She poked a finger at the potted plant behind her, and he scowled at her. Her voice, while not going down in volume, became gentler, “We want to help you knucklehead, so just let us!"

Papyrus shook his head, “NO! I’VE GOT THIS! PLEASE, JUST, GIVE ME ANOTHER CHANCE.” He stood up tall and confidently. Sans looked up at his brother and his droopy eyes seemed to sparkle with admiration for him. It was honestly disgusting.

“I PROMISE I CAN DO THIS, I’LL HAVE THIS HOUSE SPICK AND SPAN, AND SANS WILL BE AS HAPPY AS A CLAM WHEN YOU ALL GET BACK. AND IF IT’S NOT THAT WAY . . .” Papyrus took a deep breath, like he was bracing himself for an unpleasant jab in the arm. “THEN I’LL LET YOU ALL HELP ME.”

Looks were exchanged between the adult monsters. Frisk, who had been quietly observing the whole time, was just staring up thoughtfully. Her locket danced around her fingers as she played with it nervously.

Finally, Asgore looked back at Papyrus with a sigh. “Alright Papyrus. We will give you a chance to prove yourself.”

Papyrus’ eye sockets lit up and his smile spread across his face, “R-REALLY?!”

“Yes, but if anything bad happens or you have any trouble at all, do not hesitate to call any of us. We will come as quickly as possible.” Toriel said,

Papyrus zoomed forward and wrapped his free arm around the former rulers of the Underground, squeezing Sans slightly in the process. “THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! YOU WON’T REGRET THIS! NYEH HEH HEH!”

Sans cried out once the pressure from his brother’s hug was too much for him. Papyrus quickly let go and proceeded to rock the baby.

This did little to ease the worried expressions of the other monsters in the room.

Flowey on the other hand was smiling, eyeing the two skeletons with malicious glee.

He was quite excited to see how this would play out.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

Sans would not shut up!

He had been crying for so long that there weren't even any tears streaming from his eye sockets anymore. He was just screaming, and yelling, and it really put Flowey’s teeth on edge.

Sans was hungry and he wanted his brother, but Papyrus couldn’t be with him at that moment. He was too busy cleaning and cooking lunch in the kitchen, and it would have been ‘too dangerous’ to have a small child so close to the hot stove and toxic cleaning supplies. So Sans was left in his playpen bawling his eyes out.

Flowey couldn’t take much more of this. He seriously hoped that Sans would pass out from dehydration soon. “Papyrus!” He yelled, “Will you please shut him up!”

“I WILL BE THERE IN JUST A MINUTE.” Papyrus shouted back, “I JUST NEED TO DRAIN OUT THE PASTA, WASH THE DISHES, AND THEN I WILL WARM UP SANS’ BOTTLE AND INFUSE IT WITH MAGIC.”

The flower groaned loudly and wrapped his vines over his aching head, hoping to block out the crying. Just a little bit. Just to give him a break. It didn’t help much.

Flowey just wanted him to be quiet for two seconds. Was that too much to ask? 

He paused as a dangerous thought entered his mind.

Maybe he could shut him up.

A swift poke in the back of the skull . . .

Flowey shook out the thought. He couldn’t do that. While he admitted that he had questionable morals, hurting babies was where he drew his line. Even when he had the power to reset, he never killed a baby. Kidnapped maybe, but never killed. Besides, when Frisk had brought Flowey to this house, she made him promise that he wouldn’t hurt anyone anymore. He had been doing a pretty good job at keeping his promise too. Other than a few harmless pranks here and there.

Flowey lifted his head a little as a new, better idea came to him.

He might not have been able to hurt Sans, but he never promised not to push any buttons. The tiny trash bag was going to cry, there was nothing Flowey could do about it.

The least he could do was have a little fun with the situation.

Smiling mischievously, he slithered out of his flower pot and onto the floor. Where he used his vines to crawl over to the playpen Sans was caged in. With ease, he pulled himself up and over the plastic fence and into the space that was cluttered with useless baby toys and plushies that Sans was not interested in the slightest.

Sans whined as he watched Flowey slowly get closer to him. His eyes were wide and the lights inside were constricted. This made the flower smile. It was sort of nice to be feared again. It made him feel powerful, even if this fear was coming from a baby.

“Aww, what’s wrong little guy?” He said with false sweetness. He caressed a vine over Sans skull, but instead of comforting him, all it did was make him whimper and squirm uncomfortably, “Are you gonna cry again? Golly, we wouldn’t want that now would we? What would Papyrus think?”

He slide around the infant, inspecting him carefully. Scheming how best to toy around with the helpless infant. 

"You know Sans. I never would have thought you could get any weaker, and yet here we are. It is actually quite amusing to see you like this. So vulnerable. Not like before. I could barely hit you back then. But now…"

Flowey pushed the tip of his vine into Sans’ face. Barely using any force, he made the infant fall backwards. He flailed as he fell onto his back.

Flowey laughed hard, his sides ached at the intensity of his laughter. Unfortunately, all this did was make Sans more stressed. He screamed again for Papyrus, and this time the taller skeleton actually poked his head out from the kitchen.

“FLOWEY, WOULD YOU PLEASE NOT MAKE SANS CRY. YOU’RE ONLY MAKING IT WORSE.”

“I am not!” He smirked at Papyrus and didn’t notice the baby behind him lifting himself back up to a sitting position.

“He has been screaming his head off for hours, I don’t see how I could make this situation any wors-”

Flowey felt small hands grab onto his stem and pull him backwards.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!”

Sans had put him in his mouth!

Half of his head was inside the smiley trashbag’s mouth!

It was unnaturally wet and squishy inside. Something he didn’t expect from a skeleton. It was dark too. He couldn’t see anything, but he could feel Sans’ hot breath on him as he gnawed on his petals.

“SANS! NO! NO! NO! STOP! FLOWEY IS NOT A LOLLIPOP!

“Letmegoletmegoletmegoletmego!”

Flowey struggled inside Sans’ mouth, but the infant’s jaws were stronger than he thought. He could feel Papyrus’ hands grabbing onto his stem as he tried to pull him out gently so he wouldn’t hurt him or Sans, but it wasn’t working.

“UM, UHHHH . . . H-HOLD ON FLOWEY. I-I’LL GO GET HIS MILK. THAT MIGHT DISTRACT HIM!”

Flowey heard Papyrus stomp away back into the kitchen, rummaging through the cabinets and fridge for the supplies he needed. The pressure on Flowey’s head became more intense as Sans sucked harder. On the bright side, the baby had stopped crying. But on the darker side, Flowey felt like his vital fluids were being drained out of his body. He wriggled and squirmed in vain in an attempt to loosen Sans’ hold on him. 

“HURRY UP!” Flowey screamed,

 _BEEP_

The microwave sounded off, and Flowey assumed that this meant that Papyrus had warmed up the milk. His quick steps soon became louder as he slid onto the floor and onto his knees. The flower hear the milk splash around inside the baby bottle as Papyrus shook it in front of Sans’ face.

To Flowey’s relief, the baby had stopped sucking on him.

“HEY SANS, LOOK WHAT I HAVE HERE.” Papyrus was speaking baby talk now, which annoyed Flowey, but he would take anything to be freed from the damp, dark cave that was Sans’ mouth. Flowey held his breath, hoping for freedom soon. “IT’S NICE, WARM MILK. IT TASTES MUCH BETTER THAN THAT ICKY FLOWER YOU HAVE IN YOUR MOUTH. SO WHY DON’T YOU LET HIM GO, AND YOU CAN HAVE SOME DELICIOUS COW JUICE INSTEAD?”

Sans didn’t have to be asked twice, he spat out Flowey and cried out for Papyrus to feed him. The taller skeleton then quickly lifted the baby out of the playpen before he could change his mind about the exchange.

While Sans slurped up the milk, Papyrus checked on Flowey, who still in the pen, wiping off Sans’ spit with an old baby blanket that had been lying inside. “OH MY STARS! FLOWEY, ARE YOU OKAY?”

That’s when Flowey snapped, “Am I okay?” He asked angrily as he threw the blanket onto the carpet. “AM I OKAY? I almost DIED you idiot! Of course I’m not okay.”

Papyrus flinched, “I-I’m sorry.” he mumbled. Then he turned away from the flower, but not in time for Flowey not to notice the glisten in his eyes.

“Are you . . . crying?”

“NO! THE GREAT PAPYRUS DOESN’T CRY! I JUST . . . HAVE SOMETHING IN MY EYE.”

“Is it tears?”

“ . . . MAYBE.” Papyrus sniffed. He walked over to the couch and gently sat down, with a calmer baby Sans in the crook of his arms. He threw his head into his free hand and dragged it across his face. Flowey’s anger began to subside slightly. Papyrus looked even more worn out than before, yet he was still set on taking care of his brother. Flowey sighed heavily, he wasn’t good with this emotional stuff, but he was so sick and tired of all this crying.

_ “Come on Flowey, what would Frisk do?” _

After a moment, he hesitantly slithered to the edge of the couch then lifted himself back into his own, dry flower pot. Then, mustering any ounce of sympathy he might have had in his soulless form, he asked, “Are you okay?”

A far cry from the human’s skills of kindness, but considering that couldn’t feel anything emotionally he thought it was pretty good.

“YES, I’M FI-” the skeleton paused when he saw Flowey’s skeptical look, then he turned his face down on his brother. “N-NO, I-I DON’T THINK SO.”

Flowey sighed heavily, he was dreading this next part. “Do you want to talk about it?” He asked in a monotonous voice.

Before Flowey could fully process what was happening, he felt himself being ripped out of his flowerpot and being pulled into a bone-crushing skeleton hug. His angry shout of protest was muffled in the skeletal monster’s shirt.

He was also dangerously close to Sans again, which made Flowey a bit nervous as the memory of the infant's mouth was still fresh in his mind. There was still baby slobber on his petals. But seeing as he was contently chugging the milk from his bottle, he figured that he would be safe for now.

Papyrus on the other hand had totally cracked. He sobbed brokenly, clinging onto both his friend and his brother desperately. His stress and anxiety was finally laid bare for all to see. And unfortunately for Flowey, he was the only one around to he his shoulder to cry on.

“I JUST . . . I-I MISS SANS SO MUCH! I-I KNOW THAT HE’S TECHNICALLY RIGHT HERE, B-BUT IT’S JUST NOT THE SAME! I MISS TALKING TO HIM, I MISS HIS LAZY ATTITUDE, I EVEN MISS HIS HORRIBLE PUNS!”

He sniffed and took a deep breath before he continued again, “I KNOW BEFORE I SAID I KNEW WHAT I WAS GOING, BUT I-I REALLY DON’T.”

“Then why are you trying to do this by yourself?” Flowey asked irritably,

Papyrus sniveled, “I-I’M JUST TRYING TO DO WHAT . . . WHAT HE WOULD DO IF HE WERE IN MY SHOES. HE WOULD HAVE KNOWN HOW TO DO ALL THIS. HE KNEW EVERYTHING. HE COULD HAVE HELPED ME IF HE WERE HERE. BUT HE’S . . . H-HE’S . . . ” his words faltered out.

Flowey suddenly realized that Papyrus wasn’t looking down at Sans as he said this, but at the wall instead. He was a little bit confused, “Wait, are you talking about Sans?”

Papyrus avoided the flowers gaze and pulled his brother closer to his chest. Flowey was curious about Papyrus’ sudden change in character. He had gotten to know the skeleton pretty well by accident when he had the power to reset, and he knew that Papyrus loved to talk about himself and Sans to the point that it was obsessive.

But, he also knew that pressing him for details now would get him nowhere, so he figured he could trick Papyrus into telling him at a later time.

Flowey groaned, right now he still had to fix the stupid skeleton. Where was Frisk when you needed her? 

“Look,” he muttered, “I’m not going to pretend to care about the trash bag, you know how I feel about him.” Flowey gagged a little at the thought of the words he was about to say, “But I sorta . . . kinda . . . care about you.”

Flowey immediately regretted saying it. Papyrus’ tear-streaked face had already lit up with his stupid smile the moment he said those words. “REALLY? YOU MEAN IT?”

“Yeeaah,” he groaned, “But only a little bit! Enough for me to . . . offer you my help I guess.”

Papyrus’ face fell, “BUT, I PROMISED THAT I WOULD LOOK AFTER HIM.”

“And you still will be, but you don’t have to do it alone. If living in this house has taught me anything, it’s that being apart of a family means that you don’t have to do things on your own. Family is there to pick you up when you fall down, support you when you feel defeated . . . and help you take care of a baby when you are grossly unprepared.”

Papyrus smiled as Flowey spoke, wiping away stray tears from his sockets. “So, stop being an idiot and accept help from your family, or I am not exaggerating when I say that I'll start living outside with all the other flowers!”

The skeleton chuckled softly then sniffed, “OKAY FLOWEY, YOU WIN. WHEN THEY COME HOME, I’LL TELL THEM THAT I WANT THEIR HELP AFTER ALL.”

“Finally!” Flowey loosened up slightly in Papyrus’ friendly hold, “I don’t think I could have taken much more of the tiny trash bag’s crying.”

“NYEH, I KNOW WHAT YOU MEAN. WHO KNEW SANS HAD THE LUNG CAPACITY.” Papyrus chuckled as he took the now empty bottle from Sans’ tiny hands. “BY THE WAY, WHEN DID YOU BECOME SO WISE IN THE WAYS OF FAMILY.”

“Oh, Frisk’s been making me watch Disney movies as homework on how to be nice.”

“WELL, I THINK YOU’RE GETTING REALLY GOOD AT IT.”

“Thanks, I’ve been practicing,” Flowey said sarcastically, but he really had been. When he had stolen all the souls of the Underground, he had come out of the whole incident a little different. Sure, he still didn’t have real feelings, but every once in a while he could feel a faint ghost of an emotion.

Kind of like now. With Papyrus embracing him warmly, thanking him for being a good friend. It made Flowey feel a little bit . . .

Happy.

Hardly noticeable, but it was still there.

Flowey smiled, He had been working hard to learn how to be sympathetic again, even if his conscience was numbed out at times.

Even if he had to fake it.

He just didn’t want to hurt the people he loved anymore.

Not again.

There were often times where he would slip up and someone would get hurt either physically, emotionally, or both. But he tried to make it up to them in one way or another.

Sometimes it felt like the only people who believed in him anymore were Frisk and Papyrus. But really, as long as they truly did believe in him, that was enough for him.

As long as he was with his family, he knew he could do it.


	6. Soul Buddies

“Hello everyone, my name is Frisk. I am in Mrs. Mint’s third grade class, and this is my video presentation for my science experiment.”

Frisk held her phone out away from her face. The camera was in selfie mode as she walked through the Ebbot City Park.

“My experiment is based off of the color changing flowers. The original experiment shows that if you put a white carnation in a vase of dyed water, then the flower will change its color. So, my hy-... hi-...”

“Hypothesis, my child.”

“Yes, my hypothesis is that if I put a yellow flower in a vase of red dyed water, then the two colors will mix together and make an orange flower. That is why I am here in the park today, and with me is my mom and Sans.”

Frisk flipped the camera around so that it could get a shot of Toriel pushing baby Sans in a stroller.

“Say hi to my class, mom!”

“Hello children, and hello Mrs. Mint.” Toriel waved into the camera, “I hope everything is going well.”

“And here’s Sans!” Frisk flipped the camera back into selfie mode and squished up close to the infant skeleton as he was trying to get his foot into his mouth. “He doesn’t usually look like this, but he got into a lab accident at his job and it turned into a babybone. Don’t worry though, Alphys says that she’ll sort this out real soon, so he’ll be back to normal in no time. Which is a really good thing." 

Frisk stood back up and continued to walk down the sidewalk. “We’re at the park today to pick up some wildflowers like yellow dandelions and daisies. They grow all over the place, so I was going to pick up some samples while Mom and Sans enjoy the park.” 

“Are you sure you do not want me to help you dear?” Toriel asked, “It would be no trouble at all.”

“No, it’s fine.” Frisk replied as she stopped recording and put her phone in her backpack, “Sans probably wants to get out and explore anyway, right?”

Toriel smiled at her child, “Okay then, if you need me we will be over by the playground. Try not to wander too far, and remember we need to be back home by dinner.”

“Okay Mom!” Frisk waved as she walked further near the forested area of the park, “I love you!”

“I love you too!” Then, with Sans in the stroller, she walked over to the park that was full of different slides, swings, a sandbox, and other play equipment where other children and their parents were.

Frisk smiled as walked off on her own into the forested field. It was usually the area of the park where people would throw barbecue parties or birthday parties, but the crisp fall air made that activity less desirable now, so it was completely empty.

The tall oak trees that towered over the area were losing a lot of their leaves, so the grass was littered with their leaves and acorns. The pavilions were slightly worn due to the windy weather they had been having lately. It could have been better, but for Frisk, it was a great place to have an adventure.

With things being a little chillier now, Frisk new that it would be difficult to find the flowers she needed. All the dandelions that she was able to find had already turned white and puffy. Although, this didn't stop her from picking them up out of the ground and wishing on the fluffy, little seeds while blowing them into the wind.

It was a little bit frustrating. Granted, she could always just go to a florist and buy some flowers for her experiment, but where would the challenge be in that? She was set on collecting the flowers on her own. Besides, it would be more fun this way.

Frisk slid her backpack off her shoulders and set it onto the ground. She then pulled out a glass jam jar she had filled with water. Her plan was to hold the flowers in here so they could still be fresh when she put them in the colored water.

She scoured the ground, looking for the little flower-like weeds everywhere she could. He searched behind trees, near water fountains, even in between cracks in the sidewalk, but she had no luck. After about half an hour of searching, her diligence was rewarded when she found a small patch of dandelions near an old drainage ditch. Frisk smiled triumphantly as she knelt down and picked the flowers, taking extra care to pull them out with their roots intact for her experiment.

Once she had collected enough flowers for her project, she picked herself up from the grass. But before she fully turned around, she curiously looked down into the ditch. It was dry, which was no surprise considering that it hadn’t rained in a while, but it was also deep. Wanting to test something out, she carefully stepped onto the dry gravel sides of the ditch and slid down to the bottom. When she stood up straight, she noticed that the walls of the ditch even blocked the tip of her head from view.

No one could see her now.

She cast her gaze to the end of the ditch and walked in that direction. Crisp autumn leaves crunched beneath her feet as she stepped on them. When she finally made it to the end, she found herself at the mouth of a huge, cement pipe. It wasn’t big enough for her to be able to stand up inside, but if she crouched down and curled herself up into a ball, it would be a really good hiding place.

Frisk smiled as she inspected the dark tunnel. She’d have to remember this place the next time she played hide-and-seek with Monster Kid.

** “There’s a light at the end. Almost reminds me of when I died.” **

The voice came like a whisper in her ear. Frisk turned herself to the side and was greeted with a pair of pale, blue eyes.

Frisk giggled, Chara always liked to try and scare her, but it never really worked. She wasn’t afraid of her. Not really.

Chara had on her usual green and yellow striped sweater on. It was her favorite, and she couldn't change them anyway. She had a light complexion, which was understandable considering that she spent years living in the Underground before she died. Her hair was light brown, which contrasted Frisk’s dark brown hair, and her cheeks had a rosy pink color on them. She was also semi-transparent. If Frisk looked past her, she could easily see the surroundings behind her. Chara always had a subtle, red glow around her form and it gave off a warm energy. It was comforting to Frisk, in a way.

Frisk smiled at her ghostly friend, “You’ve been awfully quiet lately. What’s up with that?”

Chara shrugged nonchalantly, **“There’s been nothing to talk about.”**

“Nothing to talk about!?” Frisk repeated incredulously, “There’s been a ton of things going on!”

**“Like what, Sans turning into an infant?”** Chara scoffed, **“Like I care about any of that stuff.”**

Frisk’s face fell, “I thought you liked Sans.”

** “When have I ever shown that I care about that comedian. Honestly, I prefer him this way. He can’t bore me to death with his terrible jokes anymore.” **

“You don’t really mean that.”

Chara stared at Frisk straight in the eyes, **“And how do you know?”**

Frisk shoulders squared up. She was ready to respond to this, “Because we are connected, and whatever you feel, I can feel too. And because of this I know that you don’t really feel that way.”

Chara scowled, then, in defeat, looked away from Frisk. Frisk smiled triumphantly and turned her attention back to her new secret hiding spot. She tugged a little at the locket around her neck, a small gift that was given to her in the Underground.

It seemed like forever ago.

Then, after they had finally reached the surface, for real, Sans had put a small engraving on the back of it. Frisk rubbed her thumbs around the words.

_ Stay determined. _

_“keep this on ya all the time ,”_ Sans had told her back then, _“with this, you’ll become invincible. not anythin’ or anybody will hurt you. not even that scary, evil wraith of yours' will be able to touch you. it will keep you safe as long as you believe it will. just stay determined kiddo, and don’t give up on us.”_

Frisk smiled at the memory. She was sure that Sans had only said those things about being invincible to boost her confidence, but Frisk always kept it on anyway. She liked to play around with it whenever things got hard or scary so she could remember the promise she made.

It always helped her to ground herself to this timeline and its reality.

“ **You wouldn’t reset, would you.”**

Frisk looked over at Chara, who was still glaring down at the dirt like it had just insulted her.

“What?”

** “You heard me. You wouldn’t reset if Alphys couldn’t fix the machine?” **

Frisk frowned and looked back into the dark tunnel, avoiding Chara’s judgmental gaze, “She will fix it, and she’ll fix Sans.”

** “But what if she can't. You wouldn’t try resetting again just to bring Sans back, would you.” **

Frisk’s hand went subconsciously to her heart-shaped locket, “N-No, I wouldn’t do that. I promised. I promised Sans that I wouldn’t anymore.”

**“Yeah, yeah, I know.”** Chara rolled her eyes, **“You’ve said that last time, and the time before that, and the time before that. But something always comes up that makes you start over. When will you actually commit to your promises Frisk?”**

“I’m committed!” Frisk said, defending herself, “I’ve kept it this long haven’t I?”

** “Sure, but I still think you shouldn’t be trusted with this power, or are you forgetting about all those Genocide route you did.” **

Frisk froze as the terrifying memories of the hundreds of horrific runs she had regrettable done flooded onto the surface of her mind. The dust that had coated her hands, the terrorized faces of her friends when she slashed through them with her knife, the judgement hall and her final battle with Sans.

A pang stabbed at Frisk’s soul, “Chara, I told you before. That wasn’t me. I was being controlled by . . . something.”

**“By what!?”** Chara was yelling now, **“Because as far as I know, there isn’t a monster in the whole universe that can take control of a human’s soul while they are still alive.”**

“I-I don’t know.” Frisk could feel her eyes welling up, “I-I never saw them, it was just . . . it felt like an evil presence in my soul. I told you all this already."

** “Yeah, I know. And I still find it hard to believe.” **

Frisk could feel her hand shaking, she balled them up into fists to get them to stop, “D-Does it really matter anyway?”

Chara’s cold stare shot down at her, **“Pardon me?”**

Frisk shoulders curled inward slightly, “I-I mean, now that we’re on the Surface. It’s over. And I’m not going to reset anymore, it’s okay now. Nobody remembers the other timelines. Well, except for Sans, but he’s already forgiven me for them. He knows that I didn’t mean to. So we don’t have to worry about it anymore.”

Chara floated up in front of Frisk’s face. That way she had to face her, **“Everyone may have forgotten that timeline, and Sans may not hold a grudge against you anymore, but you still remember those souls you killed over and over again. You see the Underground filled with dust every night in your dreams. If you reset again, who's to say that another Genocide route won’t happen again.”**

Frisk’s eyes stung as her words pierced her soul, **“So if you know what’s good for you, and for everyone you love, you’ll never even look at that button again. Capiche?”**

Frisk sniffed and nodded her head numbly, “O-Okay.”

Chara’s firm glare loosened for a moment, but only for a moment, **“Ah geez, stop that. Big kids don’t cry, remember?”**

“I-I’m sorry.” Frisk sat down against the wall of the drainage channel, her backpack dropping loosely onto the ground next to her, and buried her face into her knees. Sobbing quietly so Chara wouldn’t have to hear her.

Chara could feel a dull ache in her chest where her soul once was. She rubbed her temples with her transparent hand and sat herself down next to Frisk. **“Look, Frisk."** She sighed, **"I’m sorry, okay."**

This caught Frisk by surprise, she raised her head up and stared at Chara in amazement, “What?”

**“I’m not going to say it again.”** Chara glared at her, but then it softened, **“I just . . . want you to understand that you can’t just jump around timelines like you used to anymore. Not with that ‘possessor’ of yours still lurking around somewhere. If you reset again, there’s a good chance that you might lose yourself to that thing again. And, I know I can come off a little . . . cruel at times, but that’s just because I don’t want to have to see you go through that again.”**

Chara’s voice softened at that last part. This was the most honest and gentle Frisk had ever seen her in awhile.

She remembered when she first met the lonely ghost. The first time she fell into the ruins. Frisk was terrified of her at first. But after a while, once they got to know each other, Chara had quickly taken up the role of being Frisk’s guide and, in a way, a big sister. With the bossy attitude and everything.

Frisk felt like she could connect with her. They had a lot of things in common, other than their choice in fashion. They both loved the monsters of the Underground, they’ve both done things that hurt the people they love in the past, and they’ve both had to live with this regret and pain without being able to tell anyone.

But at least they had each other.

For the things that she just couldn’t talk with Sans about, Chara was there to listen. And sometimes, surprisingly, she even consoled her sometimes on the harder days.

Frisk knew Chara was sometimes mean and bossy with her because she felt that if she wasn’t then Frisk might fall back to old habits.

Even a determined kid like Frisk had her limits.

And even though she’d never admit it, the idea of Frisk changing into that homicidal little demon again scared her. She should know, because it scared her too. They didn’t need to share a soul for her to know this.

Chara may have been a little rough around the edges, but deep down in the space where her soul once was, she cared about Frisk, about Toriel and Asgore, about Flowey, Undyne, Alphys, Papyrus, even Sans.

Frisk leaned in close to Chara and carefully slipped her arms around her sister. It was a weird feeling, to hold a ghost. Only Frisk was able to do it to Chara, and the best way she could describe it was like hugging cotton candy. There was something physical there for her to hold, but if she squeezed to tight, her arms would go right through her stomach.

The warmth that radiated Chara’s form made Frisk feel safe and at peace. Chara didn’t hug back though, she was too ‘cool’ for hugs. But at least she never pushed Frisk away.

“I love you Chara.”

Chara didn’t respond.

**“Alright you little cry baby.”** Chara slipped out of Frisk’s hold and floated two inches off the ground, **“It’s getting late. We should probably go back to Mom before she has a heart attack.”**

“Okay!” Frisk smiled brightly as she picked up her backpack from the ground and began the short climb up the dirt slope.

**“Hey Frisk,"** Chara said inquiringly, **"Remember out little motto?”**

Frisk nodded her head merrily, “Yep! Stay determined and don't reset. I got it!”

**“Good,”** Chara rested her arms on the top of Frisk head as they left the woods behind. Frisk emerged from the park's forest, Chara floating by her side and her jar of dandelions held protectively in her arms.

Frisk's slow walk soon turned into a run once she spotted Toriel kneeling down next to Sans in the sandbox. Sans was grabbing fists full of sand and repeatedly tried to get them into his mouth, but Toriel kept him from doing so. It was really cute. Frisk's soft giggle caught her mother's attention.

"Oh, Frisk! Have you finished already?"

"Yep! I got everything that I need." Frisk held up the jar of flowers with pride. "I'm ready to go home now."

"Yes, that's probably for the best," She said as she lifted Sans out of the box. He whined in protest, but he was generally ignored as Toriel buckled him back into the stroller, "I was not sure I could keep Sans from eating the sand for much longer."

Frisk giggled, "Come along my child," Toriel held out her hand for Frisk to grab, which she did, "I believe that it is Undyne's turn to cook dinner tonight."

**“Oh great, more spaghetti, right?"** Chara said sarcastically. Toriel obviously didn't respond, but Frisk smirked to herself, **"Yeesh, for once I’m glad we don’t share a stomach.”**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah, Chara. Using the classic older sibling trick of using fear to get your younger siblings to do what you want. 
> 
> I don't plan on portraying Chara as the bad guy in this story, but there was an evil force behind all those genocide runs. What was it you might ask? You'll just have to wait to find out.


	7. Progress

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one's kind of short, but it is important in the overall scheme of things. I hope you like it.

Alphys brushed her claws along the smooth metal of the Renovar laser as she checked again for any damages that she might have overlooked. Beatrice read her back the final damage report while she did this.

“Okay, so . . . it’s not _too_ bad. I mean, both of the mirrors are broken, fifty circuits have been fried, the shafts are melted, the couplings have snapped, the bearings are jammed, thirty-seven gears need replacing, and we’ll have to pump all the oily liquid from the machine before we can even remove all the damaged parts. But there are still a lot of parts that survived.”

Alphys sighed heavily, “Dang it.” she pulled her glasses from her face and swiped her hand over her tired eyes. Almost a week had gone by since the accident, and they had finally found every broken wire and loose screws that needed to be fixed. Alphys thought that this news would make her feel more confident, but all it did was give her a sick feeling in her stomach.

How where they supposed to fix this? There was too much that was broken. Even if they did manage to repair the machine, would it even function the same way again? And if not, what would that mean for Sans? Had she condemned one of her best friends to start his life all over again?

Beatrice sensed her friend’s anxiety. For the moment, she dropped all professionalism and placed a reassuring hand on Alphys shaky shoulders. “Come on Al, we can fix this. The lab isn’t going to cut our funding. I called them, and they said they are going to give us enough money for the repairs. Apparently, our presentation for the college students went so well that the university accepted our rebuild proposal. Everything’s going to be okay.”

“I-I know.” Alphys said, her hands were balled into fists to stop them from shaking. She took in a deep breath, clearing her mind of her toxic, negative thoughts. “Y-Your right. E-Everything is going to be f-fine. We’ve got this. I-I’ve got this.”

“Yeah!” Beatrice patted Alphys enthusiastically on the back, which made the lizard monster smile a little. “So, what now boss?”

Boss. It felt weird being called that. 

Naturally, being Sans’ second in command, the responsibility of the Renovar Project was passed down to her during his ‘convalescent leave’. Even so, it was strange. When she was still the Royal scientist, she had never been called boss because there was no one else there to call her that. She had always worked alone. Maybe if she had a team to work with her back then they could have stopped her before she ruined so many innocent monsters’ lives.

But that was in the past. Now, she needed to be present. “Th-There’s not much else we can do today without the rest of the team here.” She told Beatrice, “Tomorrow we’ll start emptying the oil in the machine, and we should also order the parts we need to r-replace so they can be here when we need them.”

“Alright then,” Beatrice scribbled a note on her clipboard, “I’ll make sure to send out an email to everyone when I get home.”

“G-Great. I-I guess that means we’re done for the day.” Alphys said as her eyes scanned the quiet, empty room, “So . . . let’s shut down then?”

Beatrice smiled down at her friend, “Okay, let’s do that.”

And that’s what they did. They turned off monitors, unplugged outlets, and flipped all the switched until the room was as dark as night. Then, they locked the door behind them with their key card and walked down the silent hallway toward the exit together.

“So, how’s Sans settling in?” Beatrice asked,

Alphys groaned tiredly as she rubbed her sleepy eyes. Beatrice giggled softly, “That bad? I know how you feel. I remember what it was like bringing my first kid, Ezra, home for the first time. You just have to take it one day at a time.”

“Yeah, that’s what Toriel says too, but sometimes it feels like Sans is being difficult on purpose.” Alphys said with a heavy sigh, “He wakes us all up exactly at four in the morning, every day, and doesn’t go back down unless someone goes in and rocks him.”

Beatrice smirked as Alphys rubbed the temples of her head, “At least Papyrus is actually letting Toriel him help now. It’s not much of a difference, but at least he’s not getting himself sick over this anymore.”

“That's a relief to hear.”

“Hey! Wait!” Alphys heard echoed footsteps echoing behind her. She turned on the spot and saw two humans running towards her. “Wait up!”

They appeared to also be scientists, judging by the white lab coats they wore. The one on the left was a tall man with dark skin and short, curly hair. The woman next to him was much fairer in her complexion, looking like she hadn’t seen the sun in a long time. Her hair was a bright red, similar to Undyne’s but lighter, and it was cut short.

When they finally reached the two scientists, they were gasping heavily. The man held up his hand, signaling for the two to wait until he caught his breath.

“Are you Dr. Alphys?” he asked with a deep, rich voice.

Alphys could feel a blush forming on her face. She didn’t know who this man was, so how did he know her? Was she forgetting something? She hated when this happened to her. 

“U-Um, y-yes.”

“Oh thank goodness!” The woman gasped in relief, “We’ve been looking for you everywhere.”

“O-Oh, really?” Alphy’s tail curled neatly up next to her body. She didn’t like how these strangers seemed to know her.

“Yes we have, allow us to introduce ourselves,” the male human said, “My name is Dr. Henry Palmer,” he then gestured to the woman next to him, “And this is my partner, Dr. Stephanie Everhart.”

“What a pleasure it is to finally meet you Dr. Alphys. I mean, it is truly an honor.” Dr. Everhart said as she shook the lizard monster’s hand, which Alphys hadn’t offered in the first place. Alphys was jostled around by the female doctor’s firm handshake. “We have heard so much about you and your work.”

“Y-You have?” Alphys really didn’t like this.

“Of course! We’ve read all of you’re reports from the Underground and your time as the Royal Scientist. The CORE is a work of genius, and your robotic engineering is inspirational!”

Alphys felt her face growing warmer. She wasn’t used to being complimented for her work that much, especially for her work as the Royal Scientist, “A-Actually, in all honesty, I-I’m no genius, really. I-I didn’t design the CORE, I just m-maintained it, a-and Mettaton is just an ordinary robot that’s possessed by a ghost monster. I’m n-nothing special.”

Beatrice looked down at her friend sadly, but Dr. Palmer spoke before she could say anything. “Oh, don’t be so modest doctor. They wouldn’t have just let anyone run an advanced machinery like the CORE, right?”

“W-Well, yes but-”

“And Mettaton is still an amazing piece of machinery, even if you didn’t create his soul.” Dr. Everhart added, “You still gave an inanimate object life! That’s something to be praised for.”

“I-I mean . . . maybe . . .” Alphys twiddled her thumbs nervously, “U-Um, I don’t mean to sound rude, b-but . . . Am I supposed to know you two?”

The two scientists looked down at Alphys with shocked surprise, “What! You mean Sans never told you about us?”

Alphys and Beatrice’s eyes grew wide, “You know Sans?!” Beatrice incredulously asked,

“Yes, we knew your Principal Investigator pretty well. We were sad to hear about his little mishap. How is he doing anyway?”

Alphys curled into herself. Since their project was technically still top secret, they were not allowed to say exactly what had happened to Sans that day. They were lucky to even be able to bring him home at all. However, rumors still spread, and people had some crazy presumption of what had happened. Alphys didn’t know all of them, but she had heard a really strange theory that the laser had turned Sans into a large, skeletal beast and that he was being held in a zoo until he changed back.

“H-He’s . . . f-feeling okay, I-I guess.” Alphys stuttered, desperate to change the topic, “U-Um, S-Sans never mentioned you to us before.”

“Yeah, well you know how he is. He likes to keep an air of mystery around him.” Dr. Palmer smirked,

“Ain’t that the truth.” Beatruce muttered to herself as she rolled her eyes. Then she turned to the doctors again, “How do you know him, again?”

Dr. Everhart spoke, “Well, he was being kind enough to assist us with our own project.”

Alphys stared up at the doctors, “H-He was?”

“Yes. He’s been giving us information on his SDT concoction for a while. At least a month now.”

“Really?” Sans didn’t even tell Alphys much about the power source, and she was in charge of designing the machine that ran on the stuff, “W-Why?”

“Well, our project works with complicated time and space variables, and when we read Sans reports on the soul and DT we knew that we needed it as a power source. We talked to Sans about it, and he said that he would be more than happy to help us out with our experiments.”

“That’s . . . very interesting.” Beatrice said, skeptically, “What does your machine do anyway?”

“That information is classified until it is fully operational.” Dr. Everhart smirked as she leaned closer to the monster scientist and whispered in her ear, “But between you and me, we are very close to discovering the secret to teleportation.”

Alphy’s eyes went wide, “Wha-” she almost said, but then Dr. Everhart pressed her finger on her lips.

“Shh, it’s classified, remember?” she giggled, her smile wide across her face.

Alphys couldn’t believe what she had just heard. Teleportation! She knew Sans had the ability, but even that befuddled her. Theoretically, he shouldn’t even be able to use that ability at all. In theory, if a person traveled through teleportation it would tear up their body, and soul, and as a result kill the one being teleported. It amazed her that Sans could travel through space this way safely, without any side effects that she could see. She had asked before if she could study him and figure out how he was able to accomplish this amazing feat, and she had been quite annoyed when he had refused.

If they had really cracked the code to teleportation, then life as they knew it would be changed for the better. Vehicles would no longer be necessary, therefore the world’s carbon footprint would be reduced dramatically. The postal service would be revolutionized so they could send mail instantly through teleportation. People could have breakfast in Japan and then travel to New York for brunch in a matter of seconds. 

The idea was tantalizing.

But something still felt wrong.

“S-So, Sans just _gave_ you SDT? Just like that?” 

“Yes, and it was very generous of him too.” Dr. Palmer smiled at Alphys, “We know how difficult it is for him to create it, so we were very grateful that he would take a little extra time for us.”

Dr. Everhart then stepped forward, closer to the monster scientist, “Anyway, if you don’t mind, we'd like to get down to business.”

“B-Business?”

“Yes, for you see, we are about to begin an experiment that is critical to the success of our project, and we’ll obviously need power for our machine. Sans was going to give us two pints of SDT on the day of his . . . accident. But since he was unfortunately unable to keep his word, we were hoping that maybe you two would honor his promise and lend us the concoction yourselves? We know things are harder now without him, so we would be willing to pay you for your trouble.” Dr. Everhart pulled a checkbook and a pen out of her pocket, “How much would you like. Name your price.”

Alphys felt her face pale. Her eyes darted to the floor uneasily. Beatrice spoke up before she could explain the dreadful situation, “Oh, that’s really generous of you Dr. Everhart-”

“Oh please, call me Steph.”

Beatrice gave her a dubious look, “Okay . . . Steph. I’m really sorry, but we don’t have SDT at the moment.”

Dr. Palmer’s gaze suddenly turned cold, and the room felt like it had dropped several degrees in temperature, “Excuse me?”

“We haven’t got any SDT. Like, at all. Not even for our own project. I’m sorry, but we still don’t know where Sans stores his secret stash, and he was the only one on our team who knew how to make the stuff.”

Dr. Everhart’s eyes were alit with fury, “You mean he didn’t tell anyone.” her gaze shot down to Alphys who jumped back slightly at the intensity of her stare. The friendly gaze she had before had completely disappeared and had morphed into something unrecognizable, “Not even you?”

“N-No, I’m sorry. B-Believe me when I say that I-I’m just as f-frustrated with the situation as you a-are.”

“I see,” Dr. Everhart sighed heavily, her light brown eyes were scrunched up and focused, like she was trying to calculate a complex equation, “Do you at least know where to look for the formula?”

“Um, w-we have a few ideas. I-I was going to check around the house today for any notes that he might have h-hidden away, a-and he might have something helpful in his locker, s-so we’ve been trying to unlock it. S-So, y-yeah,” Alphys stuttered nervously

Dr. Palmer then turned to the Alphys, his eyes bore into her with a power that made her squirm, “You will tell us when you find the formula, correct? Because this concoction is vital to the success of our project. If we don’t obtain some SDT soon, then out machine might as well be thrown into the back alley. And that would be a real waste of valuable technology, wouldn’t it be, Dr. Alphys.”

“O-Oh, y-yes that would b-be.” Alphys shifted her weight “Don’t worry, we w-will tell you w-when we find it.”

“Good.” Dr. Palmer said as he readjusted the sleeves on his lab coat, “Well, it was a pleasure meeting you Dr. Alphys. Until we meet again.”

Dr. Everhart's face was blank. No expression could be read from her features. “Yes, we will see you soon.”

Then, the two scientists walked back the way they came, leaving Alphys and Beatrice confused and a little stunned in the hallway. “Well, they seemed . . . nice.”

“I g-guess so.” Alphys muttered, “D-Did something seem . . . off about them to you?”

“Yeah, they seem a little intense.” Beatrice agreed, “But maybe they're just stressed over their project. I know I am.” she said with a tired huff. She looked back down at the lizard monster, “Are you really going to sell SDT to them?”

“I-I’m not sure.” Alphys muttered. There were a lot of things she wasn’t sure of lately, “W-We need to focus on fixing the laser first. After that . . .”

The sentence faltered off and Alphys wrung her hands together, deep in her own jumbled mind. Hundreds of thoughts and questions flew through her mind, “Why wouldn’t Sans tell me about this?” She asked, quietly, “Y-You’d think that he would discuss this kind of thing with the w-whole team first. So . . . why didn’t he?”

“Who knows. What goes on inside that skeleton’s skull will always remain a mystery.” Beatrice said, “But I do know one thing: even though Sans is a lazy butt, he’s a lot smarter than most people give him credit for. He wouldn’t knowingly do anything so reckless and irresponsible that it would jeopardize the ones he cares about. If Sans trusts them with SDT, then maybe they aren’t as bad as they seem.”

Alphys inhaled deeply, “Maybe . . .” 

They let the through go and continued their short journey to the laboratory exit. They walked through the front lobby and pushed past the door and into the parking lot. Alphys immediately saw the familiar van not to far away. It was tilted slightly due to the fact that two of its wheels were parked over the curb.

Alphys’ mouth twitched into a small, short smile. “That's Undyne.” She turned back to Beatrice, “I-I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Okay, see you then Alphys.” then she started to walk away to her own vehicle.

“P-Please make sure that you send out that email!” Alphys shouted out to her.

“I will!” Beatrice yelled back, “Bye!”

As Beatrice ducked her head to get into her car, Alphys scurried across the parking lot over to the van. She was still feeling nervous about everything. Her mind buzzed with thoughts that stressed her out and made her head feel warm. She knew she would get herself sick at this rate, but she couldn’t help but stress over everything. She couldn’t take over this project like Sans had. She didn’t even know how to make SDT. She would fail, she would let everyone down, just like she had in the Underground.

She was not prepared for this. But then again, she doubted that there was anything that she could to to get her ready for this. Either way, it was her responsibility now. Sans was depending on her, and she needed to take control.

The thought made her feel nauseous.

“Hey Al, how was work today?” Undyne greeted her as she distractedly pulled herself into the shotgun of the van and buckled herself safely in. Undyne noticed this and gave her a look of concern.

“Hey, is everything okay?”

Alphys sighed, looking down at the hands that were balled up in her lap. “I hope so.”


	8. The White Soul

“ALRIGHT SANS, HERE COMES THE AIRPLANE.” Papyrus made the sound of a plane engine as he maneuvered the spoon full of baby food through the air. Sans, who was sitting in his high chair, watched the utensil with a deep, serious concentration that only a baby could have. Toriel let out a small snort at the sight.

After a few sharp turns, loop-de-loops, and more turns, Papyrus attempted to get the spoon inside the smaller skeleton’s mouth. But instead of the spoon phasing through his teeth like it usually did, it gently chinked against the sturdy teeth, unable to pass through the barrier.

“I thought that was supposed to work on babies.” Papyrus grumbled to himself in frustration, “TORIEL! HOW DO YOU TRICK A BABY INTO EATING SOMETHING THEY DON’T WANT TO EAT?”

Toriel smiled, then she left the dishes she had been washing, quickly dried her hands on a nearby dish towel, and walked over next to Papyrus and Sans. “You know, sometimes it helps if you let the baby feed themselves.”

“REALLY?” Papyrus looked amazed by the fact, “IS IT REALLY THAT EASY?”

“It can be.” Toriel said, patting Sans lightly on the head. He giggled and reached for her wrist, “Sometimes babies likes to be the one in control of what they eat. I remember my little Asriel was such a fussy eater as a baby. He wouldn’t eat anything we gave him, but if we left some food in front of him he would gobble it all up.” she smiled a little at the memory.

Papyrus smiled at the boss monster, then proceeded to place the plate full of mashed vegetables within arms reach of Sans. He gently grabbed Sans’ small wrist and put the spoon in his grasp. “ALIGHT, EAT UP BROTHER.”

Sans stared at the spoon in his hand, then at the food placed in front of him. He was so engrossed in the two, and it was adorable to watch. 

Then Sans threw his spoon on the floor. It clattered loudly on the wood flooring as small bits of mashed up food splattered across the floor. He then reached out for the food with his bare hands. Unfortunately for him, Papyrus stopped him before he could get his fingers into the wet, goopy baby food. 

“SANS! JUST BECAUSE YOU ARE A BABY NOW DOESN’T MEAN YOU’RE ALLOWED TO THROW AWAY ALL SENSE OF ETIQUETTE.” Papyrus picked up the spoon and placed it in Sans’ hand again, “NOW USE YOUR SPOON LIKE THE BIG BOY YOU ARE.”

“abada pfflt.” Sans frowned. His face scrunched up into a baby pout. Toriel couldn’t help but giggle.

“How about you try putting some ketchup on it.” Toriel suggested, “He might like that.”

“NO,” Papyrus said as he knelt down and wiped up the small mess on the floor with a paper towel, I AM NOT GOING TO FEED SANS THAT DISGUSTING CONDIMENT. THIS MIGHT BE THE ONLY TIME IN MY LIFE THAT HE WILL LET ME FEED HIM SOMETHING HEALTHY, AND I AM TAKING FULL ADVANTAGE OF IT. NO JUNK FOOD FOR HIM!”

“ahm, ahm!” Sans threw his spoon onto the floor once again, and this time it bounce off of Papyrus’ skull before it clattered on the ground. With his brother distracted, Sans quickly reached for the food again. This time, getting huge handfuls of baby food and shoving it in his mouth. His hands, sleeves, and face were covered in the mashed vegetables by the time Papyrus had risen up from his spot on the floor.

It was so sweet and ridiculous. Toriel had to laugh.

“SANS!” The little skeleton was nearly halfway through with his meal when Papyrus lifted his brother out of his high chair so he could not further dirty himself. “WHAT DID I JUST TELL YOU? NOW LOOK AT YOU. YOU’RE FILTHY! WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO SAY FOR YOURSELF?”

“dabada blah.” Sans giggled. He reached out and patted both sides of Papyrus’ skull with his sticky hands, leaving splotches of food on his face. Papyrus glared at his brother with annoyance as he did this. 

“I SUPPOSE YOU THINK THIS IS FUNNY?”

Sans beamed at him and kept clapping his hands along skeleton’s skull, amusedly. Papyrus just held him firmly, not amused in the slightest. 

“Here, let me take him.” Toriel said, once she recovered from her fits of laughter.

Without hesitation, Papyrus passed Sans over to the arms of the boss monster. She repositioned the little skeleton so that his back would be resting on her chest and her arms went over his chest and underneath him. While she did this, Papyrus grabbed the roll of paper towels on the table and began to wipe the baby food off his face. 

“My dear, would you like me to wash Sans up for you?”

“YES, PLEASE. THEN AFTERWARDS, WE SHALL TRY AGAIN.” He pulled the paper towel away from his face and pointed directly at Sans, “AND THIS TIME I AM NOT LETTING YOU FEED YOURSELF. YOU ARE JUST TOO MESSY OF AN EATER.”

Sans laughed and tried to grab hold of Papyrus’ finger, but he pulled away before he could get any more of his stickiness on his bones. Papyrus tried to keep his expression strict and firm, but before he turned away, Toriel caught a twitch of a smile on his face.

She left Papyrus to tidy up the kitchen and carried Sans to the upstairs bathroom where they kept most of their wash rags. Sans cooed and babbled to the boss monster the whole way. 

The little skeleton had become more vocal the more familiar he got with the other monsters in the house, stringing together vowels and experimenting with sounds. Sometimes it really felt like he was speaking to them. As he ‘talked’ to her, she would often nod her head and reply in short ways like “Oh really?” and “Is that true?” It seemed to encourage him to babble more.

When they got to the bathroom, Toriel reached for the cupboard and pulled out one of the white wash rags that were neatly stacked. She then ran the cloth under the warm water, wringing it out so it wouldn’t drip on the bathroom floor. She sat Sans down on the bathroom counter, making sure he was supported by her free hand, and began to wipe the baby food from off his face. 

Sans didn’t seem to like this though, he twisted and squirmed away from the rag as Toriel pressed it onto his face. He didn’t like the feeling of the rough cloth on his bones.

“My friend, you must stay still,” Toriel snorted, “Or else you will never get cleaned up.”

“woodah ba!” 

“You may not like it, but it must be done. Do you want Papyrus to be cross with you?”

“pap! pap!” Sans giggled and clapped his hands together, and Toriel couldn’t help but smile. When Sans had learned how to say his brother’s name for the first time just a few days ago, Papyrus had been beaming with excitement and joy for the rest of the day.

“Well, I suppose I should not be so _soap_ -prised. After all, you don’t have the _cleanest_ record when it comes to your brother. You have always liked to _mess_ with him, have you not?”

Sans’ eye lights lit up brighter as he giggled excitedly. This distraction gave Toriel enough time to clean away the rest of the vegetables from his face and hands. She was fairly certain that Sans didn’t understand her puns, but at the very least he was laughing at the tone she was using while she said them. Either way, she was glad to be able to make him laugh like this again. 

Sometimes, it was strange to think that that one of her best friends was now an infant, but she didn’t let that ruin their friendship. She found ways to keep it alive. And sometimes, it felt like the old days when they told puns to each other though the ruins’ doors.

Back then, telling terrible jokes to her mysterious friend was the only thing that made her look forward for the next day. They hadn’t properly introduced to each other at the time, but Toriel didn’t mind it too much. She didn’t need to know the skeleton’s name to know that he had a good soul. 

It was this kindness that she sensed that gave her the confidence to ask him a huge favor. One that she knew would be difficult, especially as in his position as a sentry. Protecting a human from the very people he worked for did seem like a lot to ask. But, to Toriel’s relief and delight, Sans had promised that he would, despite the fact that he had told her once that he hated making promises. 

Toriel sighed to herself. Maybe because of the fact that if a promise is broken, it ends up hurting the people you care about. 

She was very grateful that he kept his it. She didn’t want to imagine where she might have been now if he hadn’t. Sans had always been a good friend to her, and she would be forever thankful to him.

In a small way, taking care of him when he was an adult, and now that he’s a baby was sort of her way to say ‘thank you’.

Once she had washed all the baby food off of Sans, she then reached for one of the bathroom drawers and grabbed a spare onesie that she had gotten him not to long ago. She saw it at the store and just _had_ to get it for him. She helped Sans get out on his dirty clothes, threw the soiled outfit in the laundry bin, then zipped up the little skeleton in a white onesie with a bright, red tomato on the front that said: “I love ketchup. All the way from my head tomatoes.”

Toriel lifted Sans off the counter and into her arms once again. She tickled his ribs, making him wriggle and flail as he let out the sweetest, little baby laugh she had heard in a long time. 

After a few attempts, Sans managed to grabbed onto Toriel's enormous paw with both of his hands, and then the boss monster felt a slight tugging from deep within her. She looked down at Sans and saw that his left eye was flashing through a rainbow of different colors, much like he did with Papyrus the first day he arrived as an infant. No glow came from her own chest though. That was a feature that was apparently unique to the skeleton race since they didn’t have any skin to cover their souls. 

The bright colors flashed before her eyes until the soft, healing color of green settled itself in Sans’ eye.

Toriel smiled and rubbed her thumb against the back of the little skeleton’s hand. Then a knock from the opened door behind made her turn around. She looked back and saw Asgore standing in the door frame.”

“Howdy, Tori.”

Toriel walked up to her husband and gave him a quick, sweet nose nuzzle, “Hello Fluffybuns. Did you just get back from your meeting?”

“Yes I did,” Asgore stated proudly, “And you will be pleased to know that it went quite well. We are getting close to reaching an agreement with the new monster laws.” Asgore wrapped his arm around his wife, looking down at the little skeleton grabbing onto Toriel’s hand. 

“A soul of kindness.” Asgore remarked, noting the vibrant green coming from the infant’s eye socket. “I would have expected nothing less from you.”

Toriel’s forehead wrinkled as she smiled, pushing her pressing her forehead against Asgore’s. She then readjusted Sans onto her her hip. “Asgore,” She blushed slightly, “Not in front of Sans.”

“Okay, okay.” Asgore chuckled deeply, watching the green in the infant’s eye faded away and were replaced with is natural eye lights, “Papyrus told me that he and you attempted to feed him baby food for the first time, and that it did not go as planned.”

“Yes, he made quite the mess.” Toriel giggled, glancing quickly at Sans as he looked down at something she could not see. “Papyrus was not happy at all, but he seemed okay after- Oh!”

She was surprised when Sans unexpectedly wriggled in her arms so he could press his hands firmly onto her stomach. He stared intently at the area he touched, and Toriel felt him push his magic inside her once again. Sans’ left eye began to flash through its colors again. Toriel expected him to flare green once again, like he did when he judged her soul, but she was surprised when it didn’t.

Instead of the bright, friendly color that was associated with her soul, Sans’ eye flared a bright white color. The two boss monsters stared wide-eyed at the little skeleton pushing against Toriel’s stomach as the light in his eye began to pulse. It throbbed from bright to dim in a rhythmic manner, it sort of reminded Toriel of a . . . 

. . . of a heartbeat.

As Sans release his magical hold, beaming brightly at the two boss monsters, Toriel and Asgore looked at each other with shock in their eyes. One word was all that needed to be said.

“Hospital.”

“Yes.”

Their minds were a blur in their rush. They tore down the stairs and through the living room, making their way towards the hallway. It wasn’t until Toriel heard Papyrus’ voice that her senses snapped back into place.

“LADY TORIEL, WHERE ARE YOU GOING? I THOUGHT YOU WERE GOING TO HELP ME FEED HIM?”

Toriel and Asgore stopped in their tracks and turned back to the skeleton. “Oh, Papyrus, I-I am so sorry but that will just have to wait. Asgore and I have a . . . important surprise errand to run.” Toriel passed Sans back over to the lanky skeleton.

“A SURPRISE!” Papyrus exclaimed as he rested the tiny skeleton against his shoulder. There was excitement in his voice, “IS IT A FUN SURPRISE?” 

“I believe it will be, yes.” Toriel smiled at Papyrus, then turned back towards the front door where Asgore was shakily holding the door open. “We’ll be back soon.”

“WAIT! WHAT SHOULD I DO ABOUT SANS?”

Oh yes, Sans still needed to eat. Toriel wracked her brain as she looked back at the skeletons “Uh . . . Okay, Papyrus, try this: get a spoonful of ketchup-”

“BUT I ALREADY TOLD YOU. I DON’T WANT SANS EATING THAT GARBAGE.”

“I know dear, I know, but just hear me out. Get a spoonful of ketchup and a spoonful of his baby food. Place the ketchup in front of him _first_ , and when he goes to eat it, quickly switch the spoons so he’ll eat baby food instead.”

Papyrus thought about it for a moment. “ISN’T THAT A BIT . . . DECEITFUL?”

“A little,” Asgore chuckled, “But it is effective. We used that trick many times with our own children.”

Papyrus looked down at Sans, “OKAY, I’LL TRY IT . . .” Papyrus’s voice faltered as he took in the nervous expressions of the two boss monsters, “YOUR HIGHNESSES, ARE YOU ALRIGHT?”

“Oh! Yes, of course!” Toriel answered, giving Papyrus a shaky smiled, “Asgore and I just need to get something checked, but we’ll be back home in time for dinner. I already have a meal set in the refrigerator, so you do not have to worry about that. Frisk should be walking back from school by now, so keep an eye out for her. Okay? Okay. We will be back soon.”

Before Papyrus could properly reply, Asgore had already ushered Toriel through the doorway and slammed the door behind him. Leaving the two skeletons alone in the living room.

Papyrus blinked, then looked down at his brother, “WHAT DO YOU KNOW OF THIS?”

“awoo blaba.” Sans replied as he clutched onto Papyrus’ scarf and moved to drag it into his mouth. Papyrus chuckled softly then pulled the red fabric out of his grasp before he could do so.

“SANS,” He said firmly, yet there was a small smile on his face, “I MUST ASK YOU TO RESPECT THE SCARF.”


	9. Consolation From Unexpected People

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is where things start to get dark. While writing this, I contemplated changing the rating from G to T, but in the end I decided just to add a warning instead. I promise you all that the story will continue to have its light and fluffy moments, but I'll also mix in a little angst as the story progresses.
> 
> Just a heads up, since school will be starting again soon, I won't be uploading new chapters as often as I have been. I'm not giving up on my stories, but (if I'm being a good student and studying like I'm supposed to) it will most likely take me weeks, maybe even months, for a new one to be up. I promise that I will continue to write though, so you don't have to worry. 
> 
> Now, with that out of the way, I hope you like this new chapter! :)

_Light streamed through the tinted window, giving the illusion of sunlight in the long, golden hallway. The white columns rose high over Sans’ head, supporting the dark ceiling above him. It was quieter than usual, and not in the reverent way Sans had learned to associate with the Judgement Hall. It was an eerie silence, like a ghost town._

_Already, many other monsters had died at the human’s hands, and their dust now littered the Underground like a fine snow. Only a handful of people were left, and Alphys had taken it to herself to hide them until the threat was neutralized. But so far, no one had been able to stop the little demon. Not Mettaton, or Undyne, Not even Papyrus._

_Now, Sans was all stood in between the human and the king. He just he hoped could be strong, like his brother . . . was._

_Sans chuckled soberly and threw a hand onto his skull. This was way too familiar for his comfort. How many Genocide runs had the kid done already? Too many to count. He almost forgot what a Pacifist timeline was like, back when the kid was good and just wanted to make friends._

_But those days were long gone and in the past. Frisk had changed, and not in a good way._

_Echoing footsteps brought his thoughts to a halt. His mind went silent as he slowly turned to glare at the person in front of him._

_“heya.” He said coldly, “you’ve been busy, huh?”_

_Sans paused as he waited for the human to reply, but she didn’t. She just stared at him with her red eyes, and a spine-chilling smile across her face. Sans pretended that her expression didn’t rattle him._

_“so, i’ve gotta question for ya.” Sans closed his eyes, “do you think even the worst person can change . . . ? that everybody can be a good person if they just try?”_

_Sans looked up at the human, and saw that she had taken a step closer to him. Her dust-covered hands grasping the knife tightly as she glared at him with her fiery eyes._

_Sans chuckled solemnly, “alright.” he said as he shrugged heavily,“well, here’s a better question . . .”_

_Sans deactivated the small dots of magic in his eyes, leaving them dark and inexpressible. “do you want to have a bad time?”_

_Sans stared at the human threateningly. His fury showed in his voice. He hoped that it was intense enough to scare the human away, “cause if you take another step forward . . . you are REALLY not gonna like what happens next.”_

_For a moment, Sans thought he could see hesitation on the human’s shadowed face. But that soon melted away, and was replaced with an expression of toxic determination._

_Almost mockingly, she took another step toward the skeleton._

_Sans sighed heavily, “welp. sorry, old lady.” He thought back to the large, purple doors that he spent many of his work hours. He remembered the kind voice that snorted when she laughed especially hard, and how it went silent the day the human came. “this is why i never make promises.”_

_The skeleton looked out the stained glass window, listening to the sounds of nature outside. For a moment, he felt like he was back on the surface again. He could imagine the feeling of sunlight on his bones for the first time. He could feel the love of his friends that surrounded him. How Frisk, lovable, kind, determined Frisk, had saved them all._

_What had happened to her?_

_What had happened to the kid he knew and loved like family?_

_He hated himself for what he was about to do. . ._

_But it had to be done._

_“it’s a beautiful day outside.” Sans told the human he no longer recognized, “birds are singing. flowers are blooming . . .” He then turned his skull back toward the little girl, “on days like these. kids like you . . .”_

**_“s h o u l d b e b u r n i n g i n h e l l .”_ **

_Sans felt his magic channel in his left eye socket as he summoned his magic. He called up the kid’s soul and threw her into the pillars, summoning a wall of bones on the column while doing this. Then, he sent a barge of his white bullets her way, and then he summoned eight of his Gaster Blasters and ordered them to fire in her direction. But they did nothing to the human. She dodge his attacks all flawlessly._

_Like she had seen them before._

_Sans had no doubt that she had. He knew this wasn’t the first time they’d done this whole routine. “here we go.”_

_Sans gave it his all, more than his all. He threw bones, blasted lasers, and used his gravity magic like he never had before. Throwing the small human on the walls, burning her with his karmatic ability, and cutting her with his bullets._

_He didn’t really want to hurt her. A small part of him, a part he thought had faded away due to the tireless resets and hopeless genocide runs, still believed his little buddy was there. He hoped that maybe if he gave it his all, if he was annoying and made his battle impossible, then maybe he could get the Frisk he knew back._

_But no matter how beat up he made her. No matter how close he got to finally getting her._

_She stayed determined._

_After he had completed one of his turns, something in the air suddenly felt different. Something seemed out of the loop. There was something here that didn’t belong. Sans looked over at the kid, and his eyes grew wide._

_“what the-”_

_The kid had doubled over and was now other hands and knees as a dark liquid poured out of her eyes and mouth, dripping onto the golden floor in large puddles. Sans had never seen this before. Not in any timeline. In alarm, he took a step back from the human._

_“k-kid?”_

_“Sans.” she quietly sobbed, “Help me.”_

_His eyes grew wide. Looking at the kid now, he no longer saw the red-eyed demon who had just tried to kill him only moments ago. Frisk’s eyes were now her usual brown, and she looked just as terrified as Sans felt. She was panting and crying as the dark liquid poured out of her like a waterfall. It was hurting her._

_Without really thinking, Sans rushed over to the human child, but hesitated once he came to the edge of the large pool of slime that the kid had created._

_There was something off about the puddle, and it wasn’t just because it came out of the kid. He knelt down at the edge of the puddle and studied it carefully._

_The liquid was cloudy and smelled of oil that burned Sans’ nose and made his eyes water slightly. The liquid was so dark it looked black, but Sans was sure that he could see a subtle tint of red deep in the substances surface. After some debate, Sans cautiously reached out to touch the strange liquid._

_“No don’t!” Frisk called out, but it was too late._

_The second Sans’ finger dipped into the puddle, a hand emerged from the slime and grabbed onto the skeleton’s wrist. Sans yelped and recoiled in surprise, but the slimy hand held on, dragging him down into the pool._

_Already, half of his arm was in the puddle. Sans had to be on his knees just to balance out his weight so he wouldn’t plunge head first into the dark substance. The pool was much deeper than he had originally thought. He couldn’t feel the golden tiles anymore and the dark force was still pulling on him, no matter how much he resisted._

_Sans’ eyes went dark, he turned over to Frisk who was staring at him wide eyed and afraid._

_“Sans!” She cried out. She shakily pushed herselfoff the floor to rush over to him, but she toppled back onto the ground. When she looked back, she saw that the slime had taken hold of her foot, keeping her cemented to her spot._

_The last thing he saw before he was completely submerged into the oily puddle were Frisk’s hollow eyes were filled with regret and remorse._

_There was a splash, and the skeleton was plunged into darkness._

_Sans didn’t know where he was anymore. The hand that had brought him here had let go and now there was only darkness as far as he could see, and it was almost suffocating. For a moment, he thought he was closing his eyes, but he knew he wasn’t._

_He was driving aimlessly in the zero gravity of the world. When he moved his arms in a swimming motion in an attempt to move around in the darkness, it didn’t work. He was stuck where he was._

_Childlike laughter suddenly surrounded him, vibrating through his ribcage as it echoed through the darkness. He turned around to see an enormous pair of glowing red eyes watching him from the dark fog. They were staring at him with malicious glee._

_“Hello Sans. We’ve been waiting for you for a long time.” The childish voice sang out, “Welcome, to your own, personal_ **_hell_ ** _.”_

_Then, out of the darkness, millions of thin, dark strands erupted from seemingly no where and latched onto Sans’ skull. They forced their way through his eye sockets and clustered deep inside his head. Sans screamed and thrashed as pain erupted from his skull, like it was being torn apart from the inside._

_The dark threads of slime hung around the edges of his eye sockets like tears streaming down his face. He clawed at these trails of muck, trying to drag out the sticky foreign substance from out of him, but it did no good. The more he pulled, the more the dark substance seemed to overtake his body._

_Sans felt the dark slime slither around his body like fire ants until they finally settled to wrap themselves around his wrists and ankles like shackles. Then, his limbs were then yanked away from him, spreading apart until Sans was left in a star position that left him vulnerable to any direct attack. Sans tried to pull his arms back up against his body, but the dark force held his hands where they were._

_Then they began to pull._

_The darkness pulled his arms and legs all in different directions, causing the bones in the skeleton’s limbs and spine to pop and crack under the strain._

_Sans’ soul burned as he was slowly being torn apart. The skeleton gasped for air, but this did little but give fuel to the pain he felt._

_Something crack in his arm, then in his leg, and then somewhere in his spine. A broken sob escaped from Sans’ throat before he could stop it. The red-eye being laughed at the suffering they were causing him._

_They were literally breaking him, and they were enjoying every moment of it._

_Sans shut his eyes tightly, and the strands of slime around his eyes wiggled inside his sockets like spiders. He grit his teeth against the pain as he struggled to breath, not wanting to scream again and give this creature something to revel in._

_He just wanted this to stop. He didn’t care how, he just wanted it to end._

**_“Sans.”_ **

_A new voice echoed in the empty space. This one didn’t sound like the child-like one that had been laughing at him this entire time. This one sounded more like an adult. Sans slowly opened his eyes and searched the darkness, but could see no one._

**_“Sans.”_ **

_Suddenly, through the chaos of snapping bones and laughter, a pair of disembodied skeletal hands appeared from the shadows. The whiteness of the hands was almost blinding in the world of darkness._

_They reached out to Sans, and the small skeleton recoiled, which just brought a stab of pain as the dark slime tightened it’s hold around his appendages. Panic gripped Sans’ soul as the hands moved closer, but it soon disappeared when the hands gently held onto the sides of his skull._

_There wasn’t anything malicious about the action. There was no ill intent. In fact, it was calming._

_Comforting._

_The anxious tension in Sans shoulders loosened slightly at the cool, friendly touch of the hands. He almost couldn’t feel the throbbing burn of the slime as it continued to pull on his fragile bones. Almost._

**_“This is just a dream, Sans. Wake up.”_ **

_A . . . dream?_

_SNAP!_

_There was a crack in his spine. A choked cry of pain escaped the skeleton’s throat as his was torn in half. He felt himself becoming lighter as his body flaked away into dust and his vision gave out._

_Dark . . ._

_Darker . . ._

_Yet Darker . . ._

_____________________________

Sans woke up crying. Fat tears rolled down his chubby cheeks as his face flushed a light blue. 

It was still dark, and he was alone in the big room he usually slept in. Not even Flowey, who usually slept near the glass window, was in the room with him tonight.

This realization just made Sans more distressed. Most of the scary images from his dream were already fading from his mind, but the terror they had brought still lingered. All he remembered from the dream was the golden hallway, Frisk covered in the terrifying slime, and the scary darkness trying to hurt him. 

And right now, all he could see was darkness.

He didn’t want to be alone anymore.

Five minutes past, and Sans was still crying. Where was everybody? They usually came rushing down when he cried. Where were they now? Had the darkness gotten them!?

“Papyrus, go back to your room!” A rough voice whispered harshly from upstairs an caught Sans’ attention, 

“But Undyne-“

“No buts! Except for you boney one in bed!” There was a tired sigh, “I’ve got this one, just . . . get some sleep, okay buddy?”

“ . . . Fine. But don’t give him any milk. I read online that it will eat his teeth away during the night.”

“Got it.”

“And don’t let him have his bottle in bed, I also read that he could choke on the liquid in his sleep.”

“Alright.”

“And make sure that-“

“Oh my stars, just go to bed!”

There was a clicking sound of a door closing afterwards. Soon, the sound of footsteps brought Sans’ gaze over to the hallway near the stairs. The little skeleton saw a blue lady with long, messy red hair walking toward him.

Undyne!? No! What was she doing here? Sans didn’t want her. She was scary, cold, stinky, had sharp teeth, and he was ninety percent sure that she wanted to eat him. He didn’t want Undyne. He wanted his brother. He wanted Papyrus!

“pap! pap!” he sobbed as Undyne loomed over his crib. Normally when he shouted Papyrus’ name, people would not hesitate to pass him into his brother’s arms. But tonight was different.

“Pap’s not coming tonight.” Undyne grumbled, “It may surprise you, but other people need to sleep too. So, you’re stuck with me.” She reached into the crib to grab him around the stomach, but Sans squirmed and sobbed in her hold. 

How dare she not take him to Papyrus! His brother was the strongest, bravest, monster he knew, and he wasn’t afraid of anything. Papyrus could keep the scary darkness away. Papyrus could protect him.

Undyne roughly carried the distraught skeleton over to the couch and placed him in the corner between the cushion and the armrest. She then made her was toward the kitchen, but when she was halfway through the living room, she looked back at him. As an after thought, she walked back over to Sans and touched the center of his chest with her pointer finger. Sans flinched at the feeling of her powerful magic being pushed through him and into something in the center of his being.

_PING!_

“There,” Undyne said, “That should keep you put.”

A green glow burst out from inside the little skeleton’s ribcage, distracting him from his crying in the process. He looked down to see something small and bright glowing from inside him. Forgetting his distress momentarily, he stared at it mesmerizingly. Cooing quietly as his fingertips traced over the pretty green outline on his clothes. 

Undyne snorted at Sans’ reaction to his own soul, then disappeared into the kitchen to grab him a bottle of water. When she returned, she was relieved to see that her magic had indeed prevented the little skeleton from rolling off the couch and cracking his skull. 

She sat herself down on the couch next to the Sans. The small skeleton watched her warily as she released her magical hold on him, making the green light from his chest diminish. Undyne then set the bottle full of water in Sans’ lap and just watched him.

Sans looked at it skeptically, and then he pushed it away from him. The water inside sloshed around as it rolled off the couch and bounced on the floor.

Undyne sighed as she bent over to pick it up again. She then lifted the the bottle up to the skeleton, “Sans, take the bottle.” 

She pressed the plastic tip against the his teeth, but Sans wouldn’t take it. He whimpered as he turned his head away.

“Take the bottle.” she repeated, her voice becoming more forceful. She shoved the bottle in his face. Sans moaned as he whipped away from the bottle once again.

“You idiotic, knuckle-headed baby,” Undyne’s eye seemed to light up like a fire as she bared her teeth. “JUST LET ME HELP YOU!”

Tears streamed from his eye sockets as Sans jerked away from the scary monster and cried out for help. She was going to bite his head off! She was going to eat him! He knew it! He knew it all along!

But then, Undyne’s gaze softened and her face fell, “Ah, geez. Sans, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you. . .” she threw her head into her free hand and rubbed her face, “Stars, I’m terrible at this.”

Sans completely agreed with her. If she was trying to calm him town, she was doing the worst job possible. He felt more stressed now than before she came down. He was so scared, and he just wanted his brother.

She then turned to the sobbing skeleton on the couch before her, “Help me out here. What can I do?”

Sans’ painful screeching turned to whimpers in his surprise. She wasn’t going to hurt him? She just wanted to help? And now, she was asking him what to do? 

Lately, people had been telling _him_ what to do. What to eat, what to wear, even when to go to sleep. But now, Undyne was asking him what she should do? It was almost strange. Although, it didn’t take long for Sans to know immediately what he wanted.

“pap.”

Undyne groaned, “Believe me, I’d rather have him here too. Heck, I’m sure he’d love to be here rather than in bed. But believe it or now, your brother isn’t as invincible as he thinks he is. He needs sleep just as much as the next monster.”

Sans pouted. He supposed that was true, but he still wanted his brother. He wanted to curl up close to him, bury his face in his nice, warm scarf, and just fall back asleep knowing his brother would keep him safe during the night.

Undyne readjusted herself on the couch so she was sitting on her legs, “That being said, what’s the next best thing?”

Another thought passed through Sans’ mind. It wouldn’t be the same as when Papyrus did it, but maybe it could still help him feel better. He should at least give her a chance, right?

Sans timidly reached out to Undyne, flexing his fingers in and out as he did so. Undyne hesitated for a moment, but then she uncertainly picked him up from underneath his arms. 

Then, once he was at eye level with the blue lady, he latched onto her neck and whimpered into her scaly shoulder. He trembled slightly, causing his bones to clatter together softly as the memory of his bad dream and the scary darkness that hurt him resurfaced in his mind. 

“Wait, you just wanted a hug?” Undyne asked, incredulously. She awkwardly placed her hands on Sans’ back to support him better, then she laughed, “Wow Sans, I never thought of you as the cuddly type.” 

Sans buried his face into Undyne’s scales. The cool, wetness felt good on his hot, puffy face. Pretty soon, her strong presence calmed the little skeleton down. He fully embraced Undyne’s hold as his breathing became even and relaxed.

“What was it that spooked you? Was it a bad dream? Can babies even get nightmares?” Undyne asked, but Sans just cooed peacefully as he stared to curl up sleepily. His eye lids began to drop slowly in his surrender.

“Must’ve been a doozy, huh? I’ve never heard you scream like that. Not even when you got hit by the laser.”

. . . Laser?

Sans pulled away from Undyne to look up at her face, questioningly. 

What was a laser?

Undyne looked at Sans, then sighed sadly, “You don’t remember that, do you?” She stared down at the floor and huffed angrily, “Of course you don’t. Heck, you probably don’t even know what I’m saying right now!” 

Undyne’s raised volume startled Sans momentarily. He whined quietly, which caught Undyne’s attention. She looked at Sans sadly, her face was scrunched up and full of pain. Her eye seemed to inspect every visible inch of Sans, "You know, I never really realized how small you were." she mused, quietly.

Undyne closed her eye tightly. She leaned forward and rubbed her hand across her face.“I’m sorry Sans. I’m sorry this happened to you. If I’d just been faster I could’ve . . .” 

For a moment, she reminded Sans of his brother on the first day. He’d been so sad. But then, Sans had helped him feel better. 

He had been wrong about Undyne. She was actually really nice, and Sans didn’t like seeing her unhappy like his brother had been. He wanted to make her feel better.

Sans looked down at the blue fingers that supported him. Maybe Sans _could_ help Undyne feel better. In the same way he made his brother feel happy.

Sans reached for Undyne’s fingers, then pushed his own weaker magic into her hand, through her arm, and deep into her center.

Sans’ vision flashed with color until it became tinted with a bright yellow. Undyne jumped, surprised by the sudden burst of magic that flew into her soul. It seemed to read and scrutinize every thought she ever had and every action she’d ever done. 

She looked over at the glowing skeleton, who was cooing and smiling at the blue monster. She watched the yellow light flicker in his single eye. Then, she smiled wide, showing all of her sharp fangs. But Sans wasn’t afraid of them anymore. 

“Yeah, you right.” She said, even though Sans hadn’t said anything, “We’ll make this right.” 

She quickly wiped her hand across her face, underneath her yellow eye, “Don’t worry, you’ll get back to normal, if it kills me. I owe it you.” 

Sans smiled up at Undyne. Although, he didn’t really know what she was talking about. As the yellow light in his eye faded away, Undyne readjusted herself on the couch so that her legs were spread across the cushions and her elbow was on top of the armrest.

Sans curled himself close on her stomach, Undyne’s arm securely wrapped around him in case he rolled over, her claw-like fingers gently brushed the back of his skull in a comforting way. This made him feel safer. Like she would protect him from any scary shadows that might try and hurt him again. Pretty soon, sleepy haze began to settle over his mind. Just before sleep swept him away, he heard Undyne whispering to him.

“By the way,” Undyne yawned as she rested her fist on her cheek, “Thanks for saving my life, and junk. But don’t think I’ve forgotten your little blue magic stunt just because you did.” She leaned back against the couch, her one eye slowly closing shut, “The second you’re back to normal, I’m gonna kill you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> By the way, the "blue magic stunt" Undyne was referring to was in chapter three. Just in case you forgot. She's still kinda mad at him for foiling her plans of rescue. But, she's just joking with him . . . mostly.


	10. Surprises and Regrets

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WOOHOO! TEN CHAPTERS! (technically nine, but whatever) I'm so far into the story and yet I still have a ton of things I want to write. Thank you all my loyal readers for supporting my writing! I hope you like this chapter.

“So . . . these things were supposed to turn orange?” Flowey asked as he stared at the yellow dandelions, unimpressed. 

Flowey, Frisk, and Dr. Alphys were sitting in the dining room, working on the poster Frisk needed to make for her project. The dinner table was littered with cardboard, construction paper, and different colors of sparkly glue. Frisk was looking at her flower experiment disappointedly while Alphys folded brightly colored paper into tiny, origami flowers that they would glue onto a triboard. The dandelions in question were still soaking in a red water that had been dyed with food coloring, and they were still their original, friendly color.

“Yeah, they were.” Frisk sighed. “I don’t know what happened.”

“I think I know.” Alphys chimed in, “When you collected your dandelions, you picked them with their roots still intact. The roots are designed to filter out any toxins in the water, so the dye never made it to the petals of the flower.”

“How do you know that?” Flower asked, skeptically.

Alphys flushed, avoiding the flower’s gaze, “W-well, you know . . . I-I did some research on plants b-back when I was experimenting on souls. I was working with . . . b-buttercups at the time, s-so I read a few b-basic plant care t-tips.”

“Oh, yeah,” Flowey scowled at the scientist, “I remember that.”

Alphys shrank slightly, but then Frisk let out a long, loud groan, “I thought that they needed their roots.” she turned back to Alphys, “You knew this and you didn’t tell me?”

Alphys put her hand on Frisk’s shoulder, “Th-The point of your assignment was to conduct an experiment, not for it to be a success. This is what science is. You create a hypothesis, conduct an experiment, examine the results, then communicate those results with others. Even if the outcome wasn’t what you wanted it to be.” 

“I guess.” Frisk glanced down at the dandelions, “Do you think I could start over?”

Alphys shook her head, “The science fair is in two days and you still need to set up your poster. You should still be able to get an A for the project. I-I think it would be best to just leave it alone and explain to the judges what you’d do differently in the next experiment.”

Frisk frowned, but nodded reluctantly. She then went back to her paper and started to fill out the worksheet her teacher had handed regarding her science project. 

Flowey just watched as Frisk worked on her worksheet, and later on her project. Alphys assisted her in any way she could, by cutting paper and handing Frisk specific craft tools. But for the most part, Frisk did everything herself. 

The science poster was coming along really well. But then, Toriel threw her voice over to the group in the dinning room. “My child, could you please clear the table?” Toriel asked, “We’ll be having dinner soon.”

“Okay, mom.” Frisk replied.

Alphys and even Flowey assisted Frisk in carrying huge armfuls of her project in their arms and moving them into the living room. Flowey struggled to carry the few items he had with his vines and drag his flowerpot across the carpet at the same time. Luckily for him, Frisk was there to take his bundle once she set her’s down. They carefully placed the paper, glue, and dandelions on the coffee table in the center of the room so they could work on them later.

“Okay everyone!” Toriel called out from the kitchen, “Dinner is ready.”

Frisk gracefully picked Flowey up from his poor attempt to crawl across the floor. She excitedly rushed into the dinning room and set him down in his spot at the table next to her. Alphys scurried close behind them and sat in her chair in the far corner of the table, away from Flowey. 

“YEEAAH! DINNER! I’M STARVING!” Undyne’s shout could be heard from upstairs. Flowey could hear her quickly stomping down the stairs.

“UNDYNE! SHHH!”

Her stomping stopped suddenly, “Oh, sorry pap.”

She quietly walked into the dining room and sat in the middle seat next to Alphys. She put one of her arms around around the yellow lizard monster, making her pink blush glow on her face.

Papyrus entered the room once Undyne sat down, “OKAY! SANS IS FED AND DOWN FOR HIS NAP.” Papyrus said triumphantly as he walked into the room and sits himself down near the corner in between Undyne and Flowey for family dinner, “WE HAVE TWO HOURS UNTIL HE WAKES UP AGAIN.”

Undyne chuckled next to him, “You know, I never thought I’d live to see the day when you would welcome that bag of bones’ naps.”

“WELL, HE NEEDS THEM MORE AS A BABY THAN HE DID AS AN ADULT. AND BESIDES . . .” Papyrus smiled, sneakily, “WHEN HE’S ASLEEP, I CAN GET SOME ACTUAL WORK DONE.”

“OOH, diabolical.” Undyne smirked, “How did you even get him to sleep so early?”

Papyrus grinned confidently, “IT WAS NOTHING I COULD NOT HANDLE. IF THERE IS ONE THING I KNOW FOR SURE, IT IS THAT NO ONE CAN STAY AWAKE AFTER THE CAPTIVATING TALE OF PEEK-A-BOO FLUFFY BUNNY.”

“Ah, the perfect trap,” Undyne played along, “He never stood a chance!”

“NYEH HEH HEH! THAT IS RIGHT! SANS WAS NO MATCH FOR MY INCREDIBLE READING POWERS!”

Suddenly, without any warning, Undyne held Papyrus down by the neck and rubbed her fist into his skull. Papyrus yelped, squirmed, and tried pulled away from her hold, causing the table to shudder from his movements. But, Undyne had always had more muscle than him.

“AHH! NO UNDYNE, NO! PLEASE DON’T NOOGIE THE SKELETON!”

Flowey scowled at the two monsters then warily eyed the doorway leading to the living room. He was amazed that Sans was still asleep during this commotion. But, it seemed like that aspect of his irritating personality didn’t disappear when he changed. Sans could have slept through a rock concert in a construction site if he felt like it.

Just then, Asgore walked into the room. When he saw Papyrus in a head locked, he just gave a tired sigh, “Undyne, please let Papyrus go. You know he doesn’t like it.”

“YES! WHAT HE SAID! I DON’T LIKE THIS AT ALL!”

Undyne rolled her eyes and sighed annoyedly, “Fine.” Then she released her death grip around the tall skeleton.

Asgore smiled softly then sat himself down at the head of the table. He quickly sniffed the air then looked over at Toriel in the kitchen. “I don’t know what you are making, but the aroma tells me that it will be delicious.”

“I would hope so.” Toriel smiled as she entered the dining room with a big pot of soup she had been cooking in one arm and a salad in the other. 

The delicious smell wafted through the air and made the flower’s mouth water. Flowey loved it when it was Toriel’s night to make dinner. 

While Flowey could make his own nutrients from the sun and some water, and often needed an hour of outside time because of this, he much rather preferred Toriel’s homemade cooking over drinking water through his toes.

Toriel set the pot and bowl down on the table, and everyone eyed it hungrily. She had made a soup using the leftover spaghetti from the refrigerator. Even though Flowey hated Papyrus and Undyne's cooking with a deep and profound kind of loathing, Toriel had a way of making their terrible culinary skills into something actually edible. It was like magic.

“ALRIGHT!” Undyne said, boisterously, “Lets eat!”

Frisk helped Flowey get a big bowl of the yummy looking soup before scooping up a bowl for herself. The flower slurped up all of his noodle and meatball soup in record time, but he skipped the salad (he felt it was sorta wrong for a flower to eat leafy vegetables. And that was what he would continue to tell people). 

While he ate, he also listened in on the others conversations as they talked about their day. 

Alphys and her team still hadn’t pumped out all of the black liquid from the laser (they still had no clue what that stuff even was), but a few of the replacement parts came in already, so they would put those in once the laser was all cleaned. So, progress.

Papyrus spent most of his afternoon trying to get Sans to crawl. He held out one of his favorite stuffed bunnies just inches away from his face while he was on his stomach. According to Papyrus, Sans could have reached the stuffed animal if he just scooted himself forward a little bit. But instead of doing that, he gave up halfway and dropped his head on the carpet. So, Papyrus decided to put a hold on the lessons and get him ready for his late-afternoon nap.

“Work was work.” Undyne said. She still hadn’t heard anything from the police academy yet. She was a bit irritated, but she chose not to let this diminish her spirits. In her mind, she was going to get that letter any day now.

Asgore had spent most of his day at the court room going over their adoption case. Most of the paperwork was completed, but they still need to do a few more background checks before the final documents could be signed. But, Asgore was positive that it would be completed very soon, much to everyone’s relief and delight.

Pretty soon, everyone had their fill of food. Almost none of the soup was left in the pot and 

“That was delicious. Thank you, mom.” Frisk said with a bright smile on her face. Flowey just rolled his eyes. What a suck up.

“Thank you my child. I’m glad you enjoyed it.”

“Did you make any dessert?” Frisk asked, excitedly. Her eyes could have had stars in them the way they sparkled.

“I believe that I did leave a little something in the oven.” Toriel giggled, trying unsuccessfully to stifle a smile. She turned to the tall skeleton across from her, “Papyrus dear, would you get it from for me?”

“OF COURSE, LADY TORIEL.” Papyrus nodded. He then leaped over into the kitchen. 

Although Flowey wouldn’t admit it to anyone, he secretly hoped that there was a cinnamon-butterscotch pie waiting for them. His mouth watered just thinking about it.

Papyrus bent down and opened the oven door. His face twisted in confusion as he stared at the contents in the oven. He then checked the temperature of the oven and sighed.

“YOUR HIGHNESS, I DON’T MEAN TO JUDGE YOU, BUT YOU FORGOT TO PREHEAT THE OVEN.” Papyrus informed Toriel, “HOW DO YOU EXPECT TO TOAST THIS ROLL WHEN THERE IS NO HEAT?”

Papyrus then pulled out a small dinner roll from out of the oven. Undyne nearly choked on her food. Alphys just gaped at the bread with wide eyes, not quite sure what to say. Frisk was beaming. Her smile stretched so far across her face it must have hurt. Asgore put his arm around Toriel as she held her hands over her stomach. They smiled and giggled softly at all the other monsters around the table.

Flowey just felt numb.

“A-Are you serious?” Alphys asked.

Asgore nodded, beaming with pride, “Yes. we checked a couple days ago and got the results today. It is official.”

“WHAT IS?” Papyrus asked, still confused.

“WOOHOO! YEAH!” Undyne shot out from her chair, “They have a bun in the oven!”

“WELL NOT ANYMORE.” Papyrus said as he walked back over to the table, “I TOOK IT OUT, REMEMBER?”

“No!” Frisk giggled and shook her head at the skeleton, “A bun in the oven means they are having a baby!”

“WHO!?”

“Asgore and Toriel you knucklehead!” Undyne shouted with enthusiasm.

Papyrus’ eyes grew wide and his jaw hung open, “REALLY!” he beamed, he turned over to the happy couple, “OH MY- IS THIS THE SPECIAL SURPRISE YOU WERE TALKING ABOUT.”

Toriel giggled, “Yes it was.”

“OH MY-“ Papyrus couldn't barely contain his excitement, “I’M GONNA BE AN UNCLE AGAIN! WOWIE! . . . OR WOULD I BE A BIG BROTHER? . . . YOU KNOW WHAT? I DON’T KNOW, AND I DON’T REALLY CARE. YOU’RE HAVING A BABY!”

Papyrus paused, then looked around the room, searching for something he couldn't see, “WHERE IS THE LITTLE GUY?”

“She’s still in here.” Toriel put her hands on her stomach, “She’s not ready to come out yet.”

“She?” Frisk asked.

“It’s just a guess.” Toriel smiled down at her child. “Call it mothers intuition.”

Papyrus’ eye sockets grew wide, “YOU ATE YOUR BABY!” he exclaimed, horrified, “WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT?”

Undyne rolled her eyes, “Papyrus, the baby’s fine. They’re supposed to be there.”

She took in the tall skeleton’s confused look then sighed, “Remind me later to tell you about the birds and the bees.”

Papyrus scoffed, “UNDYNE, I ALREADY KNOW ABOUT THOSE SURFACE CREATURES.”

Flowey stopped listening after that. The chatter of the living room became white noise to him as he numbly dwelled over the new information he had just been given. He hadn’t even fully comprehended that he had gotten out of his flowerpot and was slithering into the darkness of the family room.

They were having another baby?

Why?

Why would they want to have another kid when they already had Frisk? She was all they needed, right? They knew what they would be sacrificing by having another child. Their immortality would be stripped from them and they would age like everyone else until the day they fell down. Did they really want to give that up?

Why did they even want a baby? Was it because of Sans? Did he make them think they wanted another kid?

Flowey’s face grew hotter as his breathing became deep and fast. He glared down at the carpet as his thoughts blew through his mind liken an angry storm. 

Why were they doing this? Why were they doing this to him?

Why were they replacing him?

In his blind anger, Flowey whipped his vines across the coffee table, sending it flying into the air. He turned around before he could see it crash against the wall. He was to engrossed in his own thoughts that he didn't even realize that the monster family had rushed into the room.

“Flowey! What did you do?”

It was Toriel’s voice. He closed his eyes shut, tightly. Flowey didn’t want to look at her. His anger toward her still burned inside him. It was still strong. 

“Young man, you will look at me when I’m talking to you.” Toriel said with a firm voice.

Flowey whipped his head around, his eyes blazing with fury. “WHY SHOULD I! YOU’RE NOT MY MOTHER!”

Toriel took a step back from the flower. Her eyes were wide and her hand was held over her mouth as she looked down at him. At first, Flowey thought he had scared her, but then he realized that her face bore a look of concern. 

“Flowey? My child, what is the matter?”

Flower scowled at her, then he felt something drip off his chin. 

_“ . . . What . . .?”_ he thought to himself,

Slowly and curiously, he brushed his vine across his face. A warm, salty wetness was mopped up by his creepers.

Where they . . . tears?

Flowey’s befuddlement over the wetness on his face brought him back to reality, and he finally became aware of his surroundings. He then realized someone  ~~ (else) ~~ was crying. 

He looked up and glanced over the scene of destruction he had caused. The coffee table he had thrown in a fit of rage had broken into two splintering halves, and pieces of Frisk’s science project had been scattered all over the room. The jar of dandelions had shattered into dangerous pieces on the carpet, and the flowers themselves had been ruined when they were crushed by the weight of the table.

Frisk was kneeling down before her ruined project. Alphys was with her, helping her pick up the broken and salvageable pieces. For a moment, Flowey she was the source of the crying. But it wasn’t Frisk. Although she looked like she wanted to, Frisk managed to hold firm. 

His eyes darted over to the source of the sound, and he felt the chlorophyll drain from him when he saw that the table had crashed into the baby crib, knocking it over.

Oh no.

Where was Sans!?

The flower gaze shot up to Papyrus and Undyne. The tall skeleton was now holding Sans protectively in his arms while Undyne worriedly hovered near them, shooting Flowey a death glare every so often.

Sans’ wails were intense and painful, so much that his face was flushed light blue.  Papyrus’ hands glowed green as Sans shrieked and flinched in his brother’s arms . The skeleton’s hand covered most of the infant’s head, but Flowey could still see the sickening cracks in Sans’ skull and the red trickling between Papyrus fingers, dripping onto the floor.

Flowey’s eyes grew wide in shocked realization.

No. No no no no! 

He hurt Sans. He had hurt Sans! He didn’t mean to. He was just angry. It was an accident. He didn’t know what he was doing. He didn’t mean to hurt him.

It wan an _accident_!

. . . But . . . he had still hurt him. 

Sans’ weak, pathetic cries echoed in Flowey’s head. Refusing to let go.

Sans was in pain because of him. His skull was cracked because of him. He was bleeding because of him. He was crying because of him!

He could've killed him. He could have . . . 

The room began to swirl as Flowey’s breathing became quick and panicked. 

He hadn’t changed. He was still the same. He was still the same flower he had always been. 

Cruel.

Malicious.

Soulless. 

Toriel might have knelt down beside him to try and comfort him, but Flowey couldn’t hear or feel anything anymore.

Why did he think he could change? He couldn’t change. No matter what he did he couldn’t stop hurting people.

Someone touched the tips of his petals, but Flowey recoiled from the sensation.

He needed to get away before he made things worse.

Not daring to look at the faces of the other monsters in the room, he quickly slithered away from Toriel, over to the window sill, and slid it open. He was met with the bitter cold autumn air as it blew past him.

“Flowey, wait!” Frisk called out, but he ignored her. Flowey threw himself out the window and into the grass in the backyard. 

He tunneled as far into the cold ground as he could, digging until he could no longer heard the shouting and shrieking from the house. The only thing he could hear were his own wretched sobs of agony he never knew he could feel.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Actions done in a moment of anger and fear can have devastating consequences. Sans will be fine, he'll just be a little shaken and traumatized for a while. But Flowey has a lot to think about.


	11. I Won't Forget

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I finished the new chapter just before my college life really started. I just moved into my dorm. My roommates are really nice, and I really like department I'm in. I'm still gonna find some time to do my writing and I hope you like this new one.

The crickets chirping to each other in the darkness while Frisk tugged on her pendant. She looked out the window near her bed, searching for the a glimmer of gold in the darkness to indicate that Flowey had returned. But she could see none.

It was so late in the night, and Flowey still hadn’t come back home. Frisk was starting to get worried.

Nobody had thought to run after the flower after he had run away because they were all in a mad rush to tend to Sans’ injuries. Luckily for the small skeleton, there was no ill intent from the blow. Flowey hadn’t meant to hurt Sans (Undyne would have loved to disagree, but the fact that Sans was still alive was evidence enough of this fact) so all he needed was some healing magic and a lot of comfort from Papyrus. 

Alphys had said that since Sans technically didn’t have a physical brain, he wouldn’t develop any serious injuries, like a concussion. They just needed to keep a close eye on him to make sure his magic flowed normally and that nothing else developed.

Papyrus was especially shaken after the incident. His bones chattered together violently and he looked paler than usual. He held onto Sans like he was a life line and even took him up to his room because he wanted to be certain that Sans would be safe throughout the night. Nobody fought with this decision. 

They were all still a little shell-shocked.

And nobody wanted to think what could have happened if Flowey _had_ meant to hurt Sans.

Frisk shook the disturbing thought out of her head and continued to search out from her window.

Flowey hadn’t had an episode like that in so long. Not since the day he joined the monster household. It was a big change in his life, so no one really blamed him for it back then. But this time had been different. Frisk really thought that Flowey was getting better at controlling his destructive impulses. 

What could have happened?

For a moment, Frisk contemplated jumping out her window and searching for him herself. Since her bedroom was on the first level, it wouldn’t be too difficult to escape. But, she already had somebody out there looking out for him. And, even though she was anxious just waiting around and doing nothing, she had been told by her mother and father to stay put. So she would.

For now.

A red glow from outside alerted her and she turned to face it. Chara flew through the window and into the young human’s room with a dire speed, like a shooting star in the dark blanket of night. Her face was scrunched up with an urgent worry.

They didn’t even say hello before they got down to business.

“Did you find him?”

**“Yes.”**

“Where?”

**“In the garden.”**

“How is he?”

Chara’s face fell. **“Not good.”** she replied, worriedly, **“He needs help.”**

Frisk nodded, “I know.”

It was time to put her escape plan in action.

First, Frisk rushed over to her bed and stuffed an extra pillow underneath her covers, just in case Toriel or Asgore decided to check on her while she was out. Next, she lifted the window up until she had given herself enough room to slip through the gap and land in the narrow space between the wall and the fern bushes that were planted in the side if the house. Then, she crawl under the bushes through an small tunnel of broken branches she had made a while ago. It was mostly created for an imagination game she played, but it now had a good function to help her sneak out unnoticed.

One she was out of her crawl space, she picked herself up onto her feet and ran over to the large garden at the edge of the yard. She climbed over the wooden fence, because she didn’t trust the normally squeaky gate to be quiet tonight. 

She landed in the rich soil with a soft _thud,_ and immediately, the smell of basil, oregano, parsley, and sage brushed up Frisk’s nose like a feather. She always loved being in Papyrus’ section of garden. The smells were always so refreshing and delicious. 

But this wasn’t the time for that, she had a flower to find. Frisk’s eyes scanned the dirt for anything golden between the sea of green herbs, but she still couldn’t see him.

**“He’s not here, you idiot.”** Chara said, frustratedly. She nodded her head to point out the other garden next to them. The garden that was entirely made up of flowers that ranged in variety from forget-me-nots to . . .

. . . Buttercups.

“Of course.” Frisk whispered to herself.

She carefully stepped over the delicate herbs and into Asgore’s half of the garden. His section was a jungle of different kinds of flowers. Since coming to the Surface, Asgore had a bit of a habit of buying every new species of flower he saw at the grocery store. This probably developed because he missed having a huge variety of plant life while he was in the Underground. Many Surface plants were just not sturdy enough to survive in the dark environment where he had lived for hundreds of years. Therefore, he was ecstatic to get his hands on the species of the Surface.

Yet, even with the new smorgasbord of flowers he had collected, he still had a small corner for his buttercups. The flowers that, in a way, kept him company during the darkest days of his life. 

A small cluster of the sweet-smelling, golden-yellow flowers grew in the center of the small plot of land. Frisk carefully maneuvered her way through the forest of flowers. Taking extra care not to step on any of her father’s other prized plants.

For a moment, Frisk saw nothing unusual about the clump of buttercups. But then, over the noisy little crickets that hid in the garden, she heard the sound of soft, pitiful crying. Frisk squinted, and after some deep scrutinizing, she was finally able to spot Flowey apart from the other golden flowers. His small form shuddered with every fresh, broken sob.

Chara drifted next to Frisk. Her gaze rested solely on Flowey in front of her. Frisk could feel the spirit’s guilt and remorse resonating from her soul as she stared at the souless flower. 

**“You have to help him.”** Chara said, without looking over at Frisk.

Without hesitation, Frisk carefully stepped toward the small patch of buttercups. Her movements caused some of the flowers to rustle as she brushed past them. However, Flowey was too deep in his own misery to full acknowledge the sound of the approaching human.

So, when Frisk did speak, he practically jumped out of the ground. 

“Flowey?”

Startled, Flowey turned to face her voice. His eyes were pink and his face was stained with tear tracks. 

“F-Frisk?” He quickly brushed away the glistening tears from his face and twisted his sorrowful expression into a scowl. “What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be in bed?”

“Shouldn’t you?” Frisk asked him back, her face was soft with concern for her best friend. She knelt down next to him on the cool, damp soil so he would feel less loomed over.

Flowey groaned and rolled his eyes. “I’m fine.” Flower shot back, avoiding the human’s upset and knowing gaze, “Just . . . leave me alone.”

Frisk shook her head. She would do no such thing. It wasn’t right to leave her friend alone with his thoughts. Especially when he was in such a fragile state. 

“I’m not going to leave you alone, and you are not fine.” It pained Frisk to speak to her friend like this, but he needed to know the truth, “Flowey . . . you hurt Sans.” 

Flowey flinched as she said this, but Frisk quickly moved on to reprieve the harsh statement, “He’s fine now, and we all know it was an accident. But . . . What happened back there? Are you okay? I was so worried something bad happened to you. We all were worried.”

Flowey’s face twisted into something that looked like sorrowful rage, “That’s a lie.” he scowled, “They aren’t worried about me.”

“Yes they are.” Frisk tried reassured him, “Mom and Dad-“

“OH SURE, LIKE THEY CARE ABOUT ANYTHING I DO!” Flower shout ripped through the quiet. His fury was so thick it could be cut with a pair of scissors, “THEY DON’T CARE ABOUT ME! THEY NEVER HAVE! THE ONLY REASON THEY TOLERATE ME IS BECAUSE YOU!” 

“Flowey-” Frisk tried to say something, but she was cut off before she could speak any more.

“THEY DON’T LOVE ME! I’M NOTHING MORE THAN A HOUSEPLANT TO THEM! I MEAN, WHY WOULD THEY CARE ABOUT ME WHEN THEY HAVE SOMEONE LIKE YOU!? AND THEIR REALLY NOT GOING TO LIKE ME NOW! NOT AFTER TODAY! NOT AFTER WHAT I DID!” Flowey’s voice cracked at the last part, and with the moon as her light source, Frisk saw something glisten down from Flowey’s eyes and roll down his face, “Not now. Now that they have their real kid to think about.”

Both Frisk and Chara were confused for a moment, but then things started to click together in their minds. The fact that he had disappeared right after Toriel and Asgore announced the big news, the way Flowey yelled at Toriel. 

It all made sense now.

“Flowey . . .” Frisk said softly. She reached out to the flower, and he flinched when she brushed away the tears that trickled from his face. Flowey trembled at Frisk’s touch, but he didn’t fully pull away. This gave Frisk the courage to try asking again. It was just three simple words, but she knew that they carried much more weight on them than they appeared.

“Are you okay?”

And just like that, Flower broke down again. He sobbed, cried, and wailed as he let out all of his painful, pent-up feelings into Frisk’s shoulder. Even though Frisk was sad for her friend, she couldn’t help but feel a little speck of joy for him.

He was actually feeling guilt. He was feeling real, powerful emotions.

Frisk would have felt proud for him if it didn’t break her heart to see him so sad like this.

Chara didn’t like seeing him this way either, **“Asriel.”** Chara said softly as she rested her ghostly hands onto his head. He didn’t respond to her touch, but the action made Chara feel less helpless, **“Asriel, don’t cry. It’s alright. It’s gonna be okay. You’re okay . . .”**

Chara’s head snapped up, and the human jumped slightly at the suddenness of the motion and the fury in her eyes, **“Well? What are you waiting for!?”** Chara asked angrily, **“Don’t just stand there! Talk to him! Fix him! Make him stop crying!”**

Frisk would have appreciated a please in that request, but she had long since given up hearing that word from Chara. Besides, this wasn’t about her. 

Frisk looked down at the sniveling flower before her. She slowly rose one of her hands and gently pet the petals on Flowey’s head. She whispered words of comfort to him, hoping that it would help him calm down. But it didn’t.

“I-I’m sorry!” Flowey sobbed, “I’m so sorry! I-I didn’t mean to hurt him. I didn’t mean t-to . . .”

“I know. We know.” Frisk reassured him while she petted him gently. “Flowey, we all know it was an accident. It’s okay.”

“NO IT’S NOT!”

Flowey’s shout echoed more than he thought it should. He flinched at his own, sudden volume, then lowered his voice to a weak whisper.

“I-I hurt Sans, Frisk. I-I’m still the same. I’m still the same soulless flower as I’ve always been.” Flowey gasped between his sobs, “I-I don’t even now if I’m really f-feeling sad right now, or if I’m just . . . p-pretending. F-fooling everyone again. Even myself.”

“Shh, shh.” Frisk consoled her friend, “Don’t say that. You _can_ feel things, even if it’s just a little bit. Would you be crying right now if you didn’t feel bad about what you did?” 

“It’s not just that.” Flowey moaned sorrowfully, “I keep doing this. I keep messing everything up for everyone, and I just can’t help it. I’m just terrible. That’s why th-they’re . . .” Flowey gulped painfully and took a deep, shuddering breath, “Th-They’re replacing me.”

Chara’s eyes grew wide, **“Asriel no! Mom and Dad are not forgetting you!”** the ghost insisted, a little forcefully, “ **They’re just . . .”**

Chara paused. Then she groaned when she remembered that Flower couldn’t hear her. She whipped around to Frisk. Her eyes were alight with what seemed like fury, but Frisk knew that it was really more fear than anything else. 

**“Frisk, translate for me. Now.”** Chart demanded, Frisk nodded slightly and continued to comfort Flowey with her touch.

“Flowey, Mom and Dad are not replacing you.”

“Yes they are.” Flowey cried softly into Frisk’s shirt, “They’re having a new baby. What do you think that means for me? I’ll tell you what it means: they’re forgetting me.”

**“You crybaby, just because they’re having a baby doesn’t mean that they don’t still love you.”**

“That’s not true.” Frisk paraphrased, “Just because a new baby is coming doesn’t mean they love you any less.”

Flowey pulled away from Frisk’s embrace, his brow was furrowed furiously, “How do you know!” he angrily spat out, “You don’t know what it’s like! You couldn’t possibly know how I feel!”

Frisk thought for a moment, though about something she could say to make him feel better, but then she sighed, “Your right, I don’t know how it feels.” Flower seemed slightly satisfied by Frisk’s response, but then he turned away again, holding he's head so low it almost touched the ground.”

“But . . .” she kept talking, “I do know that Mom and Dad will still love you when the baby comes. After all, they still love Chara even though they have me.”

Flower was surprised by this answer, so was Chara. They both stared at Frisk, their eyes wide with surprise.

Frisk continued, “I’m a human child, just like Chara was. You even say that I look a lot like her, right? If what you’re saying is true, then Mom and Dad should have forgotten all about Chara when they took me into their family.” Frisk stole a glance over at the spirit in question, but she just turned away.

“But they didn’t, and you know this. Just because I’m around now down’t mean that they still don’t love her. Nobody could take her place. They talk about her almost everyday, they still missed terribly, and often wished that things had turned out differently, but they know that she is still with them. She’s in everything they see. They see her in chocolate bars, in buttercups, in me, and even in you, Flowey.”

The surprised flower stood a little straighter when he heard this. Tears no longer ran down the tracks on his face and were stuck in the borderline in his eyes.

Frisk smiled at him, “I think when they have this baby, they won’t forget about you. If anything, they won’t _stop_ thinking about you. They’ll love you even more because anything the baby will do will remind them of something you did once.”

Frisk reached out ant pet Flowey’s petal’s once again. The flower leaned into her hold, “You don’t have to worry about being forgotten. They would never do that. Even if by some crazy accident that did happen, I would help them remember you again.” 

Frisk could see Flowey’s eyes filling up with tears again. His petals quivered as he tried to hold himself back. Frisk pulled him back into a light but comforting hold, breaking down his fragile defenses, “Because I love you Flowey.”

Flowey cried into Frisk’s shirt again. Softer this time, not nearly as desperate as before. It sounded more like relief than anything else. 

Frisk continued to do her best to make Flowey feel at ease while he felt with his feelings. Even Chara tried to sooth him in her own way, even though she knew he couldn’t feel it. She caressed her ghostly hand up and down the back of his head.

After a few minutes, Flowey had regained his control over himself and his breathing became even again. Chara sighed with relief and smiled. She looked up at Frisk and gave her a single nod. Frisk didn’t need any words to know that she was grateful.

He slowly pulled away from Frisk. He was calmer than before, but he still looked like he felt bad. 

“I’m really sorry.” he said, “About everything.”

“I know,” Frisk reassured him, “But I’m sure if you just apologize to everyone tomorrow, they’ll forgive you.”

“But, what about your science project?” he asked, “It’s completely destroyed.”

“Not completely.” Frisk pointed out, “I can save a few things from it. You don’t have to worry about that. It’s not that impor-“

“No, I made a mistake. So, I should fix it. I want to make it up to you. How can I?”

Frisk smiled at Flowey. He really was getting better at being good. She didn’t know why he couldn’tsee how much progress he had made, even if he had the occasional relapse.

As for the project. The poster board would be easy enough to fix. She and Alphys hadn’t completely finished it anyway, so it wasn’t a complete and total loss for her. Most of the damage was done to her failed dandelion experiment, and there was no way that she would have the time to go to the park and get a new bunch. Especially now that it was getting colder and most of the flowers were now puffy little seeds.

Frisk looked down at Flowey as she thought, inspecting the six yellow petals that encircled his face, then came up with an idea.

“Well, there is some way you could make it up to me.”

“Really?” Flower sounded surprised, like he didn’t expect Frisk to take him up on his offer “Uh, wow okay. What do you want?”

Frisk smiled mischievously as she eyed the golden flower before her, “Do you like the color orange?”


	12. Wet Coughs

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'M ALIVE!!! Sorry if this chapter took longer than my usual ones. School has been fun, but also time consuming, as it should be. Thank you all for being patient with me and I hope you like the new chapter.
> 
> Caution: "blood" warning

Flowey seemed different today.

Ever since he apologized earlier that morning, Papyrus noticed that there was something off about his mood. He refused to directly look at anybody, when he was spoken too, he only replied with automatic, one word answers, and he didn’t even scowl at anyone. He loved scowling.

Instead, there seemed to be a permanent, non-angry, frown on his face.

Papyrus didn’t know what was wrong. Nobody in their family hesitated to forgive him of the incident last night, yet Flowey still looked blue.

Well . . . orange actually.

He was sitting in a glass vase filled with red water, and already the dye in the water was changing the pigmentation in his petals. He apparently had been soaking in the liquid since before the sun came up. 

At the moment, they were both in the kitchen. Papyrus was stirring up a pot of pasta for him and Undyne to have for lunch later. Undyne had the morning off that day, and at the moment she was at the dining room table on her laptop, most likely preparing a lesson for her class.

Papyrus continued to steal quick glances of the little flower on the counter. He looked so ashamed. His head was so low, like he was trying to stay hidden, and he seemed lost in his own troubled thoughts. 

Papyrus’ eye sockets scrunched up with worry. He didn’t like seeing his friend like this. Nobody should ever look the way Flowey did, especially when the thing they feel guilty about has already been forgiven and forgotten. He almost reminded Papyrus of Sans when he was having an especially bad dad. Luckily for the little flower, Papyrus was an expert in this field, and he always knew how to make Sans feel better when he was in a funk.

So, Papyrus put on the biggest smile he could, “FLOWEY? WOULD YOU LIKE TO TASTE TEST SOME OF THE FETTUCCINI I’M MAKING?” he asked the little flower,

At first, Flowey flinched at the sound of Papyrus’ voice, but then, his eyes grew wide, and then he turned his head slightly to look at the skeleton, 

“What?”

Papyrus smiled, “I’M EXPERIMENTING WITH A NEW RECIPE CALLED FETTUCCINI ALFREDO. IT IS JUST LIKE SPAGHETTI EXCEPT THE NOODLES ARE THICKER, AND I USE A WHITE SAUCE INSTEAD OF TOMATO SAUCE.”

Flowey just stared at the skeleton like he was crazy. Had he really not expected Papyrus to talk to him ever again? Maybe he just needed to hear Papyrus speaking to him directly to fully understand that the skeleton was not mad at him. Sure, Flowey may have hurt his brother, but so had Papyrus, once upon a time. 

It really had been a long time ago. They were both just children at the time, still in stripes. And just like how it had been with Flowey, it had been completely unintentional. 

Papyrus had been practicing one of the magical bone attacks he had just learned to summon. When he swung the bone back, it ended up slipping from his hands and flying into the unsuspecting Sans. The attack had broken his leg, and even with healing magic he walked with a weird limp for a while. Papyrus had felt tremendously guilty, but Sans had managed to laugh it off like it was no big deal. However, their father had been livid, saying that he had to be more careful with his attacks . . .

. . . Dad . . .

Papyrus shook the thought out of his head. It did nobody any good to dwell on sad thoughts. He decided to turned his attention back to his flower friend instead.

Flowey was still taking in Papyrus’s face. For a split second, a ghost of a smile brushed across his face. But then, it quickly turned into a forced and obviously fake scowl. 

“Ew! No! Why would I want your gross garbage!”

Papyrus smiled. It looked like things were back to normal, “WELL, LET ME KNOW IF YOU CHANGE YOUR MIND.”

“I won’t.” Flower grumbled,

After that, they fell back into silence, except this kind was different. Nothing like the tense quiet before. It was more comfortable. Even though Papyrus was naturally loud and loved to fill the air with his amazing voice, he couldn’t deny the necessity of a comfortable silence at times. There hadn’t been many moments like this since Sans had became a baby, so times like these where always welcomed. Moments where all Papyrus need were his own thoughts to keep him company.

But sadly, it didn’t last long. 

Soon after, Sans’ cry echoed from the living room.

Everyone, Flowey, Undyne, and Papyrus, groaned loudly.

“ALREADY?” Papyrus moaned as he checked the clock on the stove, “HE ONLY SLEPT FOR HALF AN HOUR. THIS IS SO UNLIKE HIM.”

Sans had been fussy all morning, and Papyrus didn’t have the fainted idea of why this could be. He knew he wasn’t hungry, because he had already tried feeding him and he refused to take any of it. And it wasn’t because he was lonely, because even when Papyrus held and rocked him, he still screamed like a banshee. It was only by some miracle that Papyrus was able to get him to take a nap at all.

Undyne sighed and stood up from her chair, “I’ve got this one.” 

She then walked into the kitchen and opened the fridge. She pulled out an opened cup of strawberry yogurt that Papyrus had tried to feed Sans earlier, but to no avail. All he had managed to accomplish was getting Sans’ face all sticky.

Undyne disappeared from Papyrus’ line of sight for a moment, but then she reappeared in the dining room with Sans in her arms. 

She sat back down at the table and rested the sobbing, blue-flushed skeleton on her lap, her arm held out protectively around his stomach to keep him from tipping forward. Then, she took a big scoop of yogurt and offered it to Sans.

Sans glanced at it for a second, but then turned away from it and continued to whine. Undyne tried again, and Sans turned away again. Undyne sighed, annoyed. 

Papyrus frowned with concern. He left his pasta to boil and went over to the fridge to grab a bottle of milk. They had since gotten Sans to start eating more solid foods, but he still like eating from the bottle from time to time. And right now, Papyrus would do anything if it meant that Sans would feel better.

The tall skeleton walked up to Sans and Undyne and knelt down on the floor. The smaller skeleton watched him with waterlogged eyes. Papyrus held up the rubber end of the bottle just centimeters away from Sans’ mouth. Enough for him to lean forward and take it if he wanted.

For a moment, it seemed like he would. He moved his body forward, the bottle phased though his teeth.

Papyrus held his breath.

But the moment Sans started to suck, he spit out the milk into Papyrus’ face and resumed his wailing.

Both Papyrus and Undyne groaned in defeat.

“Maybe he’s just not hungry?” Flowey suggested his theory from the kitchen.

“BUT THAT DOESN’T MAKE ANY SENSE. HE HASN’T EATEN ANYTHING SINCE YESTERDAY. HE SHOULD BE STARVING.” Papyrus said as he wiped the milk off his face.

Sans let out a heartbreaking, high-pitched scream in Undyne’s arms, curling his limbs into himself in the process. It sent a chill down Papyrus’ spine. 

Papyrus had begun to learn his brother’s different cried and what they meant. When they were low and repetitive, he knew that Sans was hungry. And when the cries were whiny and nasally, it usually meant he was tired. But these types of cries were different.

It sounded like he was in pain.

Papyrus lightly caressed Sans’ skull with the tips of his phalanges. This usually did well to sooth him, but it didn’t help this time.

“Sans, what is wrong?” Papyrus whispered worriedly to his brother. But of course, the only response he got was another aching cry.

That’s when Sans started coughing. Both Papyrus and Undyne jerked back at the sound in surprise. It was weak, but also thick and wet. When Sans gasped for air, his breaths sounded wheezy, like there was something blocking the flow of oxygen to his soul.

Papyrus’ quickly pressed the back of his hand against Sans’ forehead. 

It was boiling hot.

“HE’S SICK!”

“Wait, really?” Undyne asked, surprise, “I didn’t know skeleton monsters could even get sick.”

They could, of course. Just because skeleton monsters didn’t have fleshy bodies didn’t mean that they were immune to sickness. It just meant that they couldn't get sick from germs. They could only get ill if the sickness was directly related to their magic or their souls.

But Papyrus didn’t explain this to Undyne, because he was already back in the kitchen, hastily pulling several drawers open.

After a few attempts, he finally found the drawer he was looking for and pulled out a thick, soft washcloth. He quickly ran it under the sink and wetted it with cold water, wringing it out while he was at it. 

The next thing he did was grab Toriel’s cool mist humidifier. She had bought it a few months ago when she discovered that Frisk had spring based allergies. Papyrus was sure that she wouldn’t mind him using it to clear up his brother’s passageways.

Flowey watched him curiously the whole time Papyrus worked. Observing as the skeleton gathered the supplies he needed to help his brother. He didn’t say anything, but Papyrus could see feint worry lines across his face.

Papyrus knew how he felt.

Then, the skeleton gathered up his supplies and brought them back to the dining room. Sans was still having trouble breathing due to his heavy coughs mixed with his crying. Undyne was trying to help by patting his back, but that only seemed to make him cough harder.

Papyrus didn’t hesitate. He quickly pressed the cool cloth onto his brother’s skull and then turned on the cool-mist humidifier and held it under his face. Papyrus was hopeful that this would help, but after five minutes, it was clear that neither of these thing were helping to relieve Sans of his coughing fits.

Now Papyrus was getting concerned.

“Do you think it’s the flu?” Undyne wondered out loud, “I've heard that it's been going around.”

Papyrus frowned, deep in thought. What could be wrong with him? He was eating healthily, he was getting enough rest, drinking all his fluids. There should be no reason that Sans should be sick right now. 

Papyrus was honestly at a loss of what to do. As an adult, Sans had never been sick like this before, despite his unhealthy lifestyle. Papyrus had never seen Sans like this. 

Well, except that one time when . . .

Papyrus’ eyes grew wide.

_Oh no._

Just then, Sans choked on an especially painful cough. Everyone cringed when they heard it. As he forced the bitter cough out, red magic sprayed out from between his teeth like a drizzling rain. The liquid trickled down his face and dripped from his chin like a leaky faucet. 

Soon afterwards, the coughing became weaker and less harsh, leaving Sans weak, shivering, and exhausted. He slumped backwards into Undyne’s arms and whimpered softly, but the red magic continued to dribble from between his teeth.

_Not again! Please, not again!_

“That’s not the flu.” Papyrus whispered to himself, his mind racing.

“Is that blood!?” Flowey shouted anxiously from the kitchen, “B-But that’s not possible! Monsters don’t bleed-”

Without warning, and without any words of explanation, Papyrus ran.

He ran through the living room. He stumbled up the stairs, and he almost broke the door to Sans’ room when he yanked it open.

Sans’ room was much cleaner than it used to be ever since Papyrus went through and cleaned it up. All his socks were picked up, his mattress was nicely made, and is infernal trash tornado had disappeared. 

It was truly a rare sight, but Papyrus didn’t have time to admire his amazing organizing skills. Sans needed him to stay focused.

He tore through Sans’ dresser, checking all of his pockets and socks for the single thing he was looking for. When he didn’t find it there, he lifted Sans’ mattress, but still nothing. He pulled his filthy pillowcase inside out, and still _nothing!_

There was no where else he knew were to check.

“DOGGONIT SANS! WHERE DID YOU HIDE YOUR MEDICINE!?” Papyrus shouted franticly as he rechecked the dresser, even though he knew he wouldn’t find anything. He had been very thorough in his search.

“Papyrus!” Undyne’s voice was making it’s way up the stairs. Papyrus rushed out of Sans room (now messy again from Papyrus’ hasty search, but like before, he didn’t care at the moment) and met up with her just before she made it to the top of the stairs.

“UNDYNE!” Papyrus grabbed onto her tough shoulders to face the tall blue monster, “DOES DR. ALPHYS HAVE ANY MEDICAL SUPPLIES IN HER ROOM!? LIKE A SYRINGE OF SOME SORTS!?”

“Syringe!?” Undyne was surprised by her friends strange, almost frightening, behavior, “Papyrus, what is going on!?”

“THERE’S NO TIME TO EXPLAIN!” Papyrus shouted. A soft rattling noise filled the tense air, and Papyrus realized that Undyne still had his brother in her arms.

Sans didn’t look good at all. The red magic was still dripping from his teeth, his features were tight in a painful expression no infant should have. His coughing wasn’t as intense as before since he pushed the red magic away from his soul, but he still sobbed as the burning ache that Papyrus knew his brother felt in his bones lingered and became more intense.

Papyrus reached out for his brother, but Undyne turned him away.

Papyrus stared at her with a look of betrayal, “UNDYNE, PLEASE!”

“HECK NO!” Undyne shouted as she held Sans protectively in her arms, “You need to tell me what’s going on right now! You are talking about sticking your brother with a needle! That’s not right!”

“UNDYNE! SANS IS DYING!”

Undyne froze, her eye squinted as she stared at Papyrus. As if she didn’t believe his words and was searching for the lie on his face. But when she saw that there was none, she looked completely shocked,

“What!?”

“J-JUST LISTEN TO ME, OKAY.” Papyrus was on the verge of tears himself, but he held them back, “SANS’ SOUL IS MAKING TOO MUCH MAGIC FOR HIS BODY TO SAFELY HANDLE, A-AND BECAUSE OF THAT IT IS HURTING HIM. WE NEED TO GET THE EXTRA MAGIC OUT OF HIS SYSTEM AND STOP HIM FROM MAKING MORE FAST O-Or else. . .”

He couldn’t finish what he was about to say, but he didn’t have to.

Undyne thought for a moment before she spoke again, “I don’t know if Alphys has any medical supplies in her room, but I know that she has some at the lab.”

Papyrus nodded roughly, “THEN LET’S GO!”

Undyne exhaled anxiously, but she didn’t hesitate, “I’ll call Alphys, tell her we’re coming.”

“YES, THAT’S GOOD.” Papyrus said as he reclaimed Sans from her arms. “AND TELL HER TO PREPARE A BUTTERFLY SYRINGE AND A MAGIC SUPPRESSION SHOT.”

Undyne paused, “Do they even have magic suppressants there?”

Papyrus shrugged, “I DON’T KNOW, BUT TELL HER TO GET IT READY ANYWAY!”

The two monsters and the baby rushed down the stairs and up to the front door. Papyrus twisted the doorknob, but he remembered that there was still one person left in the house.

“oh,” He quickly turned back into the house and shouted: “FLOWEY, WE’RE GOING OUT! YOU’RE IN CHARGE WHILE WE’RE GONE, AND MAKE SURE YOU KEEP AN EYE ON MY FETTUCCINI!”

Papyrus didn’t wait for his confused response.

Undyne and Papyrus ran out the front door, barely managing to slam it shut in their haste, and scrambled into the van. Undyne was speed-talking into her phone as she buckled herself into the drivers seat and turned the keys, starting up the engine. She told Alphys what was happening and to prepare the things Papyrus had told her about.

Papyrus buckled himself into the front seat next to Undyne. He securely held onto Sans as he wailed in pain. He didn’t trust the infant to be left alone in the car seat behind him when he was hurting like this. 

He kept wiping away the red magic that trickled down from Sans’ mouth with the end of his scarf. It would surly be stained when this was all over, but he didn’t care at the moment. His brother was more important.

The scarf was already red anyway.

As the van backed out of the driveway and urgently sped down the road, Papyrus protectively held Sans close to his own shaking body, like he would break if he was so much breathed on. 

Papyrus shook his head. No. Sans was going to be okay. He wouldn’t let what happened to his brother in the past happen again.

Not again.

**_Never again!_ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Remember when I said that Sans would be fine. Yeeaah, I lied. Sorry.
> 
> That hit to the head did more to him than anyone was expecting. Even Papyrus didn't expect this, and he knew about Sans' condition. It had just been so long since he had to deal with it that he had forgotten about it, until now.
> 
> I promise I'll finish the next chapter as soon as I can. Thank you so much for your support and patience. Have a nice day! :)


	13. Present and Past Collide

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know a few of you have been asking when the next chapter will come up. Well, TA-DA!
> 
> Sorry for leaving you all on a cliffhanger for so long. I hope that this makes up for it.
> 
> Enjoy!

_“SANS, JUST TELL DAD WHAT HAPPENED!” Papyrus told his brother as he sat on the bathroom counter. Sans sat close to the mirror with a bottle of white-out fluid in his hands, attempting to hide a large, blue and black bruise that encircled his right eye socket._

_The younger skeleton shook his head disapprovingly as he watched his brother try to conceal his injury. He didn’t understand why Sans couldn’t just tell the truth. The truth was always better than a lie._

_Papyrus may have only been eight, but he had been told several times by his teachers that he was very mature for his age. Especially when compared to his brother who was four years older than him._

_“bro, i’m fine. you’re worrying over nothing.” Sans didn’t look over his shoulder as he said this. He was more focused on covering up the ugly discoloration of his bones._

_“YOU HAVE A BLACK EYE!” Papyrus exclaimed, “THAT’S SOMETHING TO BE VERY WORRY ABOUT.”_

_Sans snorted, “i always have black eyes.” he smirked as he pointed to his hollow eye sockets. Papyrus pouted at his brother._

_“c’mon pap, it was an accident. that shoe barely took half a decimal off of me. your overreacting.”_

_“AND YOU’RE NOT REACTING ENOUGH!” Papyrus exclaimed, angrily, “SOCCER SHOES ARE VERY SPIKY, AND IT FLEW RIGHT INTO YOUR EYE. THIS IS WHY ATHLETES NEED TO TIE THEIR SHOES WHEN THEY PLAY SPORTS THAT INVOLVE KICKING! INNOCENT SPECTATORS CAN GET HURT WITH THAT KIND OF NEGLIGENCE.”_

_Sans smirked and glanced over at his brother, “that’s a big vocab word for such a little guy.”_

_“MY TEACHER GAVE US A NEW VOCABULARY LIST.” Papyrus said proudly, “BUT DON’T CHANGE THE SUBJECT! WHAT WILL DAD SAY WHEN HE SEES YOU LIKE THIS?”_

_“bro, chill. i’ve got it covered.”_

_With one final sweep of the brush, Sans’ bruise was completely hidden underneath the white out. Papyrus had to admit that he did a good job in blending the paint with the natural white of his skull. He could hardly see where the soccer shoe had hit him anymore. But if he squinted closely, he could make out a very very light grey ring around the eye._

_“pun intended.”_

_Papyrus groaned, then crossed his arms over his chest, “I FAIL TO SEE HOW PAINTING YOUR FACE WITH TOXIC CORRECTION FLUID IS GOING TO HELP YOU.”_

_“okay, first of all, this stuff is nontoxic.” Sans pointed out, “and second of all, this was all i could find last minute.” He leaned in closer to the mirror as he carefully checked to make sure the bruise was well hidden underneath the liquid paper._

_“BUT WHAT IF YOU GET SICK?” Papyrus asked worriedly. “DAD ALWAYS SAYS THAT IF YOU BREAK SOMETHING YOU NEED TO COME TO HIM IMMEDIATELY OR ELSE YOU COULD GET REALLY SICK.”_

_“but i didn’t break anything.” Sans jumped off the counter so that he could be face to face with his little brother.“i didn’t even lose any magic. the nurse said i was gonna be alright. so there is no point in getting all worked up over nothing.”_

_“WHAT DOES SHE KNOW?” Papyrus snapped, “SHE DIDN’T EVEN GET A DOCTORATE DEGREE WHEN SHE WENT TO UNIVERSITY.”_

_Sans snorted, “okay, you really need to stop talking like dad when he’s yelling on his work phone.”_

_“SANS, I’M JUST WORRIED.” Papyrus was on the verge of tears, “WHAT IF IT GETS WORSE? I STILL THINK WE SHOULD TELL DAD.”_

_“no. we’re not telling him anything.”_

_“WHY NOT?”_

_“because it’s been like- what, eight hours? i feel fine. besides, i don’t really feel like getting a needle jabbed into my soul today.”_

_Papyrus sighed sadly, “SANS.”_

_“it’s only gonna last two weeks. can’t this be our little secret?”_

_“B-BUT-”_

_“pap,” Sans gently interrupted him,“do i look sick to you?”_

_Papyrus closely inspected Sans. Searching for anything that could indicate a growing sickness, but he couldn’t find anything. His bones were a healthy white, his breathing sounded normal, and for once he didn’t seem sleepy._

_“NO.”_

_“do ya trust me?”_

_“OF COURSE!”_

_“then you‘ll believe me when i say i’m not gonna die over this, right?”_

_Papyrus paused for a moment. He didn’t like this. Not one bit. But . . . the way Sans looked at him now. His big eyes narrowed up in a pleading way. Papyrus couldn’t take it._

_Finally, after a long pause of hesitation, Papyrus reluctantly said, “YES.”_

_Sans let out a breath he had been holding and smiled,“thanks bro, you’re the best.”_

_He let go of his brother’s shoulders and pulled him into a tight hug “hey, how about tomorrow i take you out into the woods so we can practice your magic? i’ll even teach you how to use one of dad’s blasters.”_

_Papyrus looked up at his brother, his eyes practically sparkled even though they had no lights in them,“REALLY? YOU’D DO THAT?”_

_“of course, anything for my cool little brother.”_

_“NEYH HEH HEH!”Papyrus sprung out Sans’ hug and jumped into his hero pose that he had been practicing,“THAT IS RIGHT! I AM THE COOLEST OF ALL THE BROTHERS!”_

_“yes you are.” With that said, Sans thrust his hands towards his brothers ribs and tickled them. Papyrus squealed._

_“SANS! DOOOOON’T! STOOOOOOP!” Papyrus laughed and smiled against his will. He fell onto the floor in an attempt to escape his brother’s tickle attacks, but Sans just followed right after him._

_“don’t stop? ok.”_

_“SANS! Y-YOU KNOW WHAT I- NEYH HEH HEH HEH!”_

_“what’s the magic word?” Sans teased,_

_“PLEASE!” Papyrus gasped,_

_“please what?”_

_“PLEEAASE WILL YOU STOOOP- NYEH HEH! - TICKLING MEEEE!?”_

_“well, since you asked so nicely.” Sans released Papyrus, who quickly pushed himself up to his feet again. And while he tried to hide it, there was an unmistakable and cheerful smile across his face._

_Just then, the front door opened, letting in a crisp breeze into the house before it was blocked off again. Both the boys froze with excitement. They quickly rushed over to the banister to peer down into the living room below them._

_Papyrus watched as their father drop his heavy grey satchel next their lumpy green couch and collapse on top of it with a sigh of relief._

_The little skeletons smiled. Doctor W.D. Gaster, the Royal Scientist of the Underground, the creator of the CORE, and the running champion for the Skeleton Household’s Best Father of The Year Award five years in a row._

_“DADDY!” Papyrus shouted with delight as he raced down the stairs._

_Papyrus wanted to reach him first, but a flash of blue told him that this wouldn’t be the case. When he jumped over the last step, he found Sans already sitting on the couch, he's hands behind his head casually._

_“NO FAIR! TELEPORTATION IS CHEATING!” Papyrus pouted,_

_“no it’s not. it’s using your resources.”_

_“WELL MAYBE NEXT TIME I’LL JUST JUMP OFF THE BANISTER. THAT WAY I’D BE USING_ MY _RESOURCES.”_

_Gaster chuckled as he pulled Sans closer into a one-armed hug. Papyrus took a running start and jumped into his father’s lap, wrapping both his arms around him as he squeezed with all his strength. Gaster held back a groan as his small body collided with his own._

**_“Papyrus.”_ ** _Gaster said gently as he lightly scolded his child. His voice had a distinct accent that few could understand. Luckily the brothers grew up with this voice,_ **_“What did we say about jumping on people?”_ **

_“SORRY DADDY.” Papyrus apologized, but then his excitement bubbled back up to the surface,“HOW WAS WORK TODAY? DID YOU BRING ME ANYTHING COOL?”_

_Dr. Gaster smiled down at his youngest son as he patted his head affectionately,_ **_“As a matter of fact, I did.”_ **

_Gaster reached over to grab his work bag. He then pulled out a blue latex glove and a sharpie. He then brought the end of the glove up to his mouth and blew into it so that it would expand. Once it was full of air, he tied the bottom of the glove to keep the air from escaping. And then, to finish it off, he took the sharpie from his other hand and drew a small face on the thumb of the glove._

**_“There you go. One balloon animal straight from the labs.”_ ** _Gaster placed his creation into the excited hands of Papyrus,_ **_“Do you like it?”_ **

_“WOWIE!” Papyrus beamed as he curiously inspected the strange glove balloon that was offered to him,“WHAT IS IT?”_

**_“It’s a turkey.”_ **

_“what’s a turkey?” Sans asked._

**_“It is a large species of game bird that lives on the Surface, native to the North American region of the world.”_ **

_“did you see a lot of them when you were a kid.” Sans questioned as he and Papyrus leaned closer to Gaster, excited curiosity in his voice. The skeleton brothers loved to hear their father’s stories about the Surface._

**_“Actually, yes. Every year a whole rafter of turkeys would flock into my backyard during the fall months.”_ ** _He laughed lightly at the memory,_ **_“I remember there was this one specific adult male that would always chase and peck at me when I was little. I didn’t dare play outside in the autumn season for a long time after that.”_ **

_“COOL! TURKEYS SOUND AWESOME! QUACK! QUACK! QUACK!” Papyrus said as he made his balloon animal hop on top of his father’s head. He then wrapped his arms around the taller skeleton’s neck, “THANK YOU DADDY!”_

**_“You are welcome.”_ ** _Gaster chuckled as he pet Papyrus’s head._ **_“How was your day at school?”_ **

_Papyrus’ face lit up. He then went on a tangent about every detail of his day from the moment he woke up to right then. He conveniently skipped over the part of Sans’ injury when he described their field trip to the Snowdin High School to watch their soccer game against Waterfall. By the time he was telling the amazing tale about how he managed to snatch the last cup of chocolate pudding from the cafeteria, Sans’ head was nodding in his drowsiness._

_Gaster took a second his attention away from Papyrus to lifted his Sans’ chin up so he could get a look at his sleepy eyes,_ **_“Sans, are you okay?”_ **

_Papyrus froze mid sentence to looked at his older brother. Gaster rose one of his punctured hands to press it against his son’s forehead, but Sans pushed it away before it touched his skull._

_“m’fine dad. i just need a nap.”_

**_“Before dinner?”_ ** _Gaster sounded surprised. Sans never skipped meals, even when he was tired,_ **_“Are you sure you’re feeling alright?”_ **

_Papyrus gulped, but Sans continued to lie through his teeth, “yeah, totally sure. it was just a really busy day at school. homework was pretty rough too. i just need like an hour to recharge my batteries.”_

**_“You do know if you nap now you won’t be able to sleep tonight, right?”_ **

_Sans snorted like that was a joke, “please, i can sleep at the drop of a hat.”_

_Gaster’s mouth curved upwards,_ **_“I suppose that’s true.”_ ** _he said,_ **_“Just don’t be moody when we wake you up for dinner.”_ **

_“you got it.” Sans yawned as he slide off the couch, When he walked up the stairs, Papyrus strained to hear the sound of their shared bedroom closing. When he did hear the soft click, he then looked up at his father._

_“CAN I HELP YOU MAKE DINNER?” He asked, trying to get his mind off of his worries. Sans said that he would be alright, and the little skeleton trusted his big brother. He was going to be fine._

_Gaster smiled, and then he picked his youngest son up into the air, swinging him onto his shoulders. Papyrus squealed with delight._ **_“I would love your assistance. What should we make tonight?”_ **

_“SPAGETTI!”_

**_“Again?”_ ** _Gaster chuckled,_ **_“You know, one of these days you’ll get tired of spaghetti.”_ **

_“NEVER!” Papyrus said as he raised both of his fists in the air._

_~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~_

_“SANS! SANS! DINNER IS READY!” Papyrus yelled as he ran up the stairs two steps at a time._

_After an hour and a half of trial and error, Dr. Gaster and Papyrus had managed to create an edible and presentable pasta dinner for the small family to enjoy. All that was left now was the third member of the family._

_With Gaster climbing the stairs just behind him, knowing that he might have to carry his eldest son to the table due to his constant slothfulness, Papyrus knocked on the door with zeal. He didn’t bother to wait for Sans’ reply. He slammed open the door and poked his head into the room._

_The brothers’ bedroom was pretty basic by most standards. It had a closet, some drawers, an old toy chest, a bunk bed for the two skeletons, and the walls were covered with poster of both cars and astronomy. It was simple, but cozy._

_“WAKE UP YOU LAZYBONES!” Papyrus shouted once again,“THIS IS OUR BEST DISH YET! YOU DON’T WANT TO MISS OUT ON OUR CULINARY MASTERPIECE, DO YOU?”_

_Papyrus waited for Sans to respond with his usual, sleepy muttering. But this time, there was none.“SANS! IF YOU DON’T COME HERE SOON THE FOOD WILL GET COLD!”_

_Once again. No response._

_Papyrus was annoyed now. He stomped into their shared bedroom and over to the bottom bunk where his brother was wrapped in a warm blanket and sleeping on his side, facing away from him. Papyrus could sense their dad peering into the room from the doorway, probably smiling at the scene, but Papyrus was to angry to care._

_“WE WORKED SUPER HARD ON THIS MEAL, AND IT SMELLS REALLY GOOD TOO! THE LEAST YOU COULD DO IS WALK FIFTY STEPS TO THE TABLE TO HAVE SOME!”_

_Sans still didn’t say anything. That’s when Papyrus realized he was shivering. Which was odd, since the blanket over him was made of a thick, scratchy wool. He was breathing funny too. It hitched and shuddered to match his shaking._

_Something wasn’t right._

_“HEY! WAKE UP!” Papyrus shook Sans’ shoulder tentatively, which caused Sans to let out a string of wet coughs. This made him cringe. He quickly turned his brother over onto his back._

_Papyrus gasped._

_“DADDY!” he screeched._

_Gaster, who was already sensing that something was amiss, was by his side in seconds. Even he couldn’t stifle his shocked surprise of what he saw._

_Sans was unconscious. His breathing was shaky, and his face was strained and tight with pain. He feverishly coughed up a red magic from between his teeth, and Papyrus noticed that there was a big red stain on the pillow and the mattress. He must have used them to muffle his coughing earlier. That’s why they didn’t hear his suffering earlier._

_But the thing that really sent a chill down his spine was the red liquid that was bleeding out from his right eye socket and streaming down his face._

_It looked like he had been crying._

**_“Oh my stars!”_ ** _Gaster said breathlessly. His hands hovered over his son, but he didn’t dare touch him, yet,_ **_“What happened!”_ **

_Papyrus whimpered softly, tears threatening to pour from his eye sockets. The distressed sound caught the doctor’s attention. He looked down at his son with stern urgency._

**_“Papyrus,”_ ** _Gaster said slowly. He didn’t sound happy at all,_ **_“What happened.”_ **

_Papyrus sniffled, but then he managed to speak. After all, it wasn’t like his promise to his brother mattered anymore since Sans broke his end of it, “S-SANS . . . A-AT THE SOCCAR GAME . . . H-HE G-GOT HIT IN THE F-FACE WITH A-A SHOE, A-A-AND H-HE GOT A BLACK EYE, A-AND-“_

**_“Why didn’t you tell me about this sooner?”_ **

_“H-HE D-DIDN’T WANT ME T-TO TELL Y-YOU B-BECAUSE H-HE WAS S-SCARED Y-YO-OU’D-D . . .”_

_Papyrus sobbed hysterically, unable to finish what he was going to say._

_Gaster let out a distressed sigh,_ **_“We’ll discuss this at a latter time.”_ **

_He quickly picked up his injured son. Sans whimpered in his unconsciousness at the touch, but he wasn’t really in any state to fully resist. Gaster rushed down the stairs and toward the front door, and Papyrus followed at his heels._

_“CAN I COME TO!?”_

**_“No.”_ ** _Gaster didn’t look back, his free hand was already on the doorknob._

_“WHY NOT!? SANS WILL BE SCARED DOWN THERE! I CAN HELP HIM FEEL BETTER! I KNOW I CAN HELP!”_

**_“Papyrus, you’ve done enough already!”_ ** _Gaster snapped. Papyrus jumped back. He had never heard his father yell with that much anger in his voice before. This wasn’t like him at all. A renewed pressure started to build up in Papyrus’ sockets once again._

_Just as quickly as the fury had come, it had disappeared. Gaster’s face fell and he sighed sorrowfully. He looked down at his son in his arms, and back at the one standing in the living room._

**_“Papyrus . . . I-I'm sorry. Just, stay inside. I-I’ll be back soon”_ ** _Then, with his eldest child in his arms, he walked out into the cold night air._

_“IS SANS DYING!?”_

_Gaster didn’t answer. He slammed the front door shut before he could, leaving Papyrus in the middle of the living room._

_The house was so quiet now._

_At least, it was until Papyrus dropped onto the carpet, curled up into a ball, and let out a sorrowful, heart-wrenching cry of guilt._

_This was all is fault._

_He should have told his dad sooner._

_He was the worst brother ever._

** _._ **

** _._ **

** _._ **

_—————————_

He was the worst brother ever. 

How could he forget something that traumatized him as a child? What was the point of being scarred for life if you couldn’t remember that you now-baby-brother had a deathly magic complication!

Undyne slammed on the breaks hard as she parked hastily in front of the laboratory entrance. The second the engine was off, they both launched out of their seats and ran into the building, not even bothering to lock the doors.

Sans was crying out once again, practically screaming in pain. Papyrus held his tiny brother close to his chest, his own soul aching at the sound. 

The magic was building up in his small soul again. Pretty soon, he was going to have to expel it out the same way he had before, and Papyrus knew that the second time would be far worse than the first. Crippling even.

And if it happened a third time . . . Papyrus shook his head. He didn’t even want to dwell on that thought. They were already at the lab. It wouldn't happen a third time. It wouldn’t even happen a second time either. They were going to make it.

But they really had to hurry now. If they didn’t stop his soul from making more magic by his second coughing fit, Sans could possibly lose his other eye.

A skeleton’s eyes were more than just ways for them to see the world. It was how they channeled and controlled their magic. In regards to their magic, it was sort of like their hands. Without them, it would be impossible for them to even manifest a simple bullet.

Magic was everything to Sans. Where he lacked in health and general activeness, he always prided himself his impressive magical abilities, even with just one eye. It was the only thing that he ever really worked hard to improve on. It was what inspired Papyrus to get better at his own magic.

Papyrus wouldn’t- he couldn't take that away from Sans. He would rather give up both of his own eyes than force his brother to live without his magic just because he made a foolish mistake.

With Sans wrapped out of sight from curious eyes in his red scarf, Papyrus and Undyne ran through the waiting room and past the the receptionist desk. The lady up front shouted angrily at them as they did so, but did nothing to stop them otherwise. They hurtled through the laboratory, ignoring all the scientists that gawked at them as they pushed past them. 

Papyrus sprinted past all the labs and mostly followed Undyne. Alphys had told her earlier on the phone to meet with her in her office, and Papyrus didn’t know where that was, so he let his friend take the lead on this one.

Suddenly, Undyne made a sharp right turn towards one of the doors. It was similar to the many other doors they had past in their haste, except this one had Dr. Alphys’ name painted on it’s window.

Undyne yanked on the door, almost pulling it off of it’s hinges, and then pushed Papyrus, along with tiny Sans, into the room.

It was exactly what one would expect from an office, but slightly larger and different too. There was a desk with numerous different types of office supplies scattered across its surface. There were several filing cabinets along the back wall, and there was even a poster hung up that showed some obscure Japanese cartoon that Papyrus had never heard of.

But, of to the right side of the room, there laid an examination table with a tray of different tools such as a hypodermic needle, a butterfly syringe, a white cloth, and a glass vial. Papyrus didn’t question where and how they had obtained these tools, he was just happy that they were there.

Alphys and a human with long blonde were in this corner of the room. When they saw the three monsters, and when they heard Sans’ agonizing screams, they both went pale.

“Set him onto the table.” The blonde human told Papyrus urgently as she rushed past him to close the door, blocking them off from the other scientists in the lab. 

Papyrus didn’t hesitate. He hurriedly, yet gently, placed Sans down onto the table and carefully unwrapped his scarf around him. His soul ached when he saw his brother. His mouth and chin were stained pink from his magic and his clothes were completely ruined. He squirmed in discomfort and let out a weak cry. Papyrus quickly stroked his small brothers skull, hoping that the gesture would offer some comfort.

Papyrus could sense Dr. Alphys and the human setting up tools on the other side of the table, but he was too focused on Sans and making sure he was calm to fully take notice. It wasn’t until Alphys touched his arm that he finally looked at the yellow monster.

“P-Papyrus,” Alphys stuttered, “I-I’m sorry, but w-we need you to take out his soul.”

“RIGHT, OF COURSE.” Papyrus said. He called up his magic. His oval eye sockets glowed dark blue as he gently reached for his brother’s frail soul and drew it out from his chest. When it came into view, hovering just inches away from the small skeletons chest, all the monsters inhaled sharply through their teeth. Papyrus choked back a sob.

Sans’ soul emitted a red glow through the chips and fractures on its surface. It shivered against Papyrus’ blue magic, trying to free itself in vain. The small, inverted heart was painful to even look at it.

Sans didn’t like this one bit. He tried to squirm out of his brother’s magical grasp, but it seemed like even moving was too painful for him. He cried out in agony, causing the fractures in his soul to widen and deepen, releasing more ruby-colored light. Papyrus’ soul hurt like it had been pricked by a thousand thorns. Still holding onto his brother’s small heart, Papyrus reached out for one of Sans hands which was curled up tight to his body. He rubbed his thumb against the back of his hand in a soothing manner. This gesture melted away a small bit of tension in Sans. 

Papyrus smiled. He knew it would work. Physical contact always did the trick in calming his brother down, even when they were younger. That and distracting him by asking him to solve complex math equations in his head.

“Undyne, could you hold Sans down?” the human scientist asked, “We don’t want him squirming away when we use the needle.”

“Sure thing Bee.” Undyne said. From the outward appearance she portrayed, Undyne seemed very calm and collected about the whole situation, but Papyrus knew her better. He knew that on the inside, she was freaking out just as much as he was on the outside. 

As gently as she could, but with our being too weak, she grabbed onto both of Sans’ hands and pulled them over his head. He screamed as he did this, kicking his legs in protest. Undyne held those down with one hand as well.

Papyrus hated this so much. He turned to the human to try and take his mind off of his escalating anxiety, “Y-YOUR NAME IS BEE?” he asked.

The human gave him a sympathetic smile, “My name is Beatrice Stonebanks. I work with Sans and Alphys here. It’s nice to finally meet you Papyrus. Although, I wish the circumstances could have been better.”

The tall skeleton gulped, “Me too.”

Once again, Papyrus looked down at Sans. He heard the sound of metal moving on metal next to him, but he was more focused on trying to comfort Sans. He pet his skull, but that only did so much. He needed his medicine. It was the only way he could get bette-

Papyrus looked up and gasped. He quickly grabbed Alphys’ wrist before she could pierce the needle fill with the clear magical suppressant into his brother’s soul, “WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU ARE YOU DOING!” he yelled.

Alphys flinched. She looked like a Gyftrot caught in the headlights, “I-I was just g-going to inject him with the-“

“NO! NO! NO! YOU CAN’T GIVE HIM THE SUPPRESSANT FIRST. YOU NEED TO DRAW OUT HIS MAGIC BEFORE YOU GIVE HIM THE SUPPRESSANT. OTHERWISE HIS SYSTEM WILL BE REALLY CONFUSED AND WILL HURT HIM EVEN MORE!”

Alphys just stared at him wide eyed and her whole frame was shaking. Paprys sighed, “HERE! LET ME DO IT!” He grabbed the butterfly syringe on the tray of medical instrument. He then pierced the end of the tubing into the top of a glass vial. That way there would be a place to store Sans’ magic.

“P-Papyrus, are you sure?” Alphys asked, “I-I mean, Dr. Stonebanks and I-“

“I KNOW WHAT I’M DOING.” his voice was so serious, so stern, that it surprised everyone in the room. The scientists took a step back, allowing Papyrus to get to work.

Papyrus turned his attention back to his brother’s soul. He held up the thin needle, drawing it closer to the red and white surface of the small heart. His hand shook the closer the needle got it. Papyrus firmly grasped his wrist with his other hand to steady it. He took a deep breath to calm his nerves, and then continued.

With careful practice, Papyrus pushed the thin needle into Sans’ soul. The small skeleton let out a heartbreaking cry and squirmed slightly in Undyne’s soft hold as he did this. As much as it hurt Papyrus to cause his brother pain, he knew that this had to be done.

He cautiously drew out the magic from out of Sans’ soul, fully aware of the measurements in the vial as he did this. Making sure that he didn’t take too much. Just enough to give the suppressant room to do its job.

Then finally, the magic reached the fifteen milliliter line on the vial, and Papyrus gently pulled the needle out of the tiny heart. A small stream of magic trickled down from the puncture wound, but Papyrus was quick to wipe it away with the sterile cloth nearby.

Then, the tall skeleton grabbed the syringe filled with magical suppressant. He first looked at his brother, making sure that he was still in the safe zone. And while Sans was still sobbing painfully, there were no signs of progressing damage.

So, with the same care and gentleness as before, Papyrus inserted the syringe into the soul. Slowly injecting the suppressant so that it could be introduced to Sans’ system without overwhelming it. 

When Papyrus pulled out the small needle again, more magic trickled out of the two puncture wounds. Papyrus quickly sealed the small holes up with his green healing magic, and then allowed Sans’ soul to return back to his chest.

The second Sans’ soul was placed safely where it belonged, Undyne let go of Sans’ arms and legs, allowing him to curl them back close to his body. Without hesitation, Papyrus slipped his hands underneath Sans and picked him up off of the table, holding him close to his own soul.

“You done this before, haven’t you?” Papyrus turned to see Beatrice looking at him curiously.

“Yes, I’ve had to do this on more than one occasion. But, I haven’t done it in so long.” Papyrus’ fingertips grazed across the fussy infants skull and face, “It’s good that some things just can’t be forgotten.”

Papyrus smiled down at Sans, but then that smile dropped when he realized Sans was still crying in pain. His eyes went wide in fear

“NO, NO, NO, NO. NO. NO!” 

“W-What’s wrong?” Alphys asked urgently,

“HE’S NOT SPITTING UP!”

“What?” Undyne asked, confused and concerned.

“THE SUPPRESSANT IS SUPPOSED TO TELL HIS SOUL TO STOP MAKING EXTRA MAGIC,” Papyrus frantically explained, “THEN HIS SYSTM SHOULD RECOGNIZE THAT IT HAS TO MUCH, AND THEN HE’S SUPPOSED TO SPIT UP THE EXTRA STUFF. BUT HE’S NOT SPITTING IT OUT! IT’S STILL HURTING HIM!”

Papyrus stared down at Sans while his mind raced for a solution, but could find none. What should he do!? This never happened before. He always spat it out after few seconds. It’s been a few seconds, but Sans is still in pain! 

The tall skeleton’s breathing picked up. 

No! 

Sans was going to dust! 

This was all his fault! 

He should have remembered about Sans’ complications. 

He should have gotten help sooner! 

Now Sans was going to die and it would be all his fau-

Without warning, Beatrice scooped up the crying infant out of the panicky Papyrus’ arms and into her own. She held him upright against her chest with his chin resting on her shoulder.

“I better get a raise for this.” she quickly grumbled to herself.

Then, she began gently patting Sans’ back. She started to rock Sans back and forth on the balls of her feet as she did this, creating a rhythm that seemed to calm Sans down slightly into just whimpering.

She did this for a few seconds, but it seemed like an eternity of anxiety to Papyrus. But then, Sans let out a hiccup of a burp, and finally, the excess magic drizzled out from his teeth, staining Beatrice’s white lab coat in the process. She shivered at the cold magic running down her back, and briskly pushed Sans back into his brother arms.

Papyrus let out the breath he hadn’t known he was holding, and it came out like a relived sob. Sans still cried, but it wasn’t as intense as before. It was more like he was exhausted more than anything. Who could blame him after the trauma he had just endured. The tall skeleton held the infant close to him, tears of his own trickling from his eye sockets from relief.

“Shh, Shh. It’s okay Sans. You’re okay now. You’re going to be alright.” He looked up at the human scientist with grateful eyes. “H-How did you know to do that?”

Beatrice smiled, “I have three children of my own. You learn a few things about babies when you’re a mother.”

Sans looked up groggily at Beatrice with his big eyes. His cries had finally dwindled down to deep breaths of air as he tried to control his breathing again. 

“I hope you remember this the next time I ask for a favor,” Beatrice said to Sans with a serious tone in her voice as she pointed her finger at him, “Because I will definitely hold you to it.” 

In response, the small skeleton reached out and grasped her pointer finger into his fist, pushing a weak stream of magic through her. His eye flared up like it had many times before, settling on a deep red in his socket.

Beatrice, stared wide-eyed at the small skeleton in her arms. As the light in Sans’ eye faded away, he seemed to melt into Papyrus’ arms out of sheer exhaustion. He let out a big yawn and sleepily rubbed his eyes, nestling into his brother’s hold without any complaint. Not quite asleep, but getting closer too it.

Beatrice’s froze, but then, slowly, her mouth curve upward. She cooed softly to him as she lightly pet his skull, “Aw, why do you have to be so dang cute, huh?”

Beatrice then turned and walked over to her purse which she had left on Dr. Alphys desk. She grabbed a packaged stick of cheese from inside and then handed the lanky skeleton the cheese stick, “You might want to feed him. I’d imagine he’s pretty hungry by now.”

Of course he would be, Sans had missed breakfast and lunch because of this mini adventure. Papyrus smiled as he took the offered food from the human’s hand, “Thank you.”

Papyrus sat himself down on top of the table where the procedure had just occurred just a few minutes prior. He then peeled back the packaging of the small snack, broke off a small piece of the cheese, and then brought it up to Sans’ mouth. At first, Sans was too tired to eat, but once the first bit of cheese disappeared behind his teeth, be began to realize just how hungry he was. 

Undyne stood next to the two skeletons, still wary of the situation to be completely convinced that everything was alright now. But once she saw Sans eating the small bits of cheese Papyrus fed him, the tension in her shoulders finally relaxed.

Papyrus gave his friend a reassuring smile.

It was okay.

They were okay.

Everything was okay.

But then, Dr. Alphys gasped. Causing all the adult’s heads to snap up towards her. She was holding the vial of Sans’ magic in her shaking claws, just staring at it with utter horror. Papyrus didn’t know why though. His brother’s magic looked the same as it always had: ruby red with little bits of cyan and yellow swirled in like oil does when it’s combined with water. So why did she look so . . . scared?

Beatrice walked over to her to inspect the vial herself, and then she too when wide-eyed, switching her gaze between the vial of magic and Sans.

Papyrus looked at Undyne, but she just shrugged. It must have been some science thing that only they knew.

For a long moment, the silence hung thick in the room. “Al?” Undyne asked, concern in her tone, “What’s the matter?”

The two scientists looked up at the skeleton “P-Papyrus?” Alphys asked shakily, her voice filled with distress, “W-Why is Sans’ m-magic filled w-w-with SDT?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did you see that coming? Some of you did. But what does this mean? What will happen now? Well, you'll just have to wait and see.
> 
> Anyway, I hope you have a great day. Thanks for reading and for all the nice comments you leave. They really inspire me to keep writing. And once again, thank you for your patience.


	14. Secrets Revealed

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know, I know, it took me almost four months to post this. But in my defense, February was a really busy month for me.
> 
> Anyway, here's a new chapter, I hope you like it. I make no promises that the next one will come soon, but I will keep writing. Thank you for your patience.

No. No. No. No. No.

Alphys didn’t want to believe it.

She couldn’t believe it.

There was just no way this should be possible.

How in the world could there be SDT in Sans’ soul.

And in extremely high levels no less.

Alphys knew the effects of DT better than any other monster, she had been forced to watch their bodies melt together as their forms became mushy, and what she is seeing right now just can’t be possible. Sans shouldn’t be alive with the level of red magic that was in his system.

An yet, here he was. Small and frail, but one-hundred percent not melting.

How!?

Why!?

The lizard monsters mind was in a complete state of panic. Flashbacks of the labs and the amalgamates zipped through the forefront of her brain. On the outside, all she could do was stare dumbly at the baby skeleton in Papyrus’ arms.

Beatrice and Undyne were doing the same thing, and Papyrus just stares at the other adult like a child who had been caught with their hand in the cookie jar. He didn’t say anything to answer the scientist’s previous question.

Alphys repeated it again. “Papyrus,” she said firmly, without stuttering over a single syllable, “Why, it there synthetic determination in your brother’s soul.”

All the adults looked at Papyrus expectantly, and the skeleton looked at them with his own look of shock. 

“HOW DO YOU KNOW ABOUT SDT?”

“What do you mean?” Beatrice asked, fuming. Her frustrated confusion clearly in her voice, “Sans has been bringing this concoction into the labs every day since our testing began. He said that he had been making it.”

“WELL, THAT IS OBVIOUSLY A LIE. SANS DOESN’T EVEN KNOW HOW TO MAKE SDT.” Papyrus stated in a way that one might say that the sky was blue. Just a fact, nothing more or less.

But it wasn’t that simple.

Alphys felt her magic turn cold, “W-W-What?”

“SANS DOESN’T KNOW HOW TO CREATE THE CONCOCTION.” Papyrus said again, “IT’S ACTUALLY BEEN QUITE TROUBLESOME REALLY, MOSTLY IN THOSE INSTANCES WHEN HE IS SERIOUSLY ILL. SDT MAY BE VOLATILE, BUT IN SMALL AMOUNTS IT ACTUALLY IS QUITE HANDY IN BOOSTING HIS IMMUNE SYSTEM.”

“Small amounts!” Alphys exclaimed, “It’s taking up much more than half of his magic reserves. Th-There’s hardly any of his signature magic in his soul.”

“EXACTLY, WHICH IS WHY HE NEEDS THE SDT. IT GIVES HIS BODY THE EXTRA MAGIC IT NEEDS.”

“Wait, hold up.” Undyne said while holding up her hands, she turned to her skeleton friend, “You’re sure that Sans can’t make this stuff, Papyrus?”

“YES.”

“Absolutely sure.”

“I THINK I’D KNOW SOMETHING THAT IMPORTANT. MY BROTHER MAY LIKE TO KEEP SECRETS, BUT I’M POSITIVE HE’D TELL ME IF HE DISCOVERED HOW TO DO THAT.”

Undyne was silent for only a moment, “Then how the hell did manage to bring a whole vial for the testing weeks ago?”

The question hung in the air unanswered. 

“Th-That day at the labs. . . Sans was exhausted . . . He passed out in front of us . . . He barely had enough magic to defend himself . . . O-Oh my s-s-stars . . .”

It finally made sense now. That whole month when Sans had hardly enough magic to stay awake and was walking like every step he took was a struggle in itself. 

It finally made sense.

Oh, stars. How could she not have noticed till now?

Was she really that oblivious to other people that she couldn’t see what was happening right before her eyes?

Apparently not, because here they were now.

Why didn’t she see the sooner?

What else had she swept under the rug?

“Oh great!” Beatrice palmed her face, hard, “You’re telling me, this entire time, we’ve been using monster blood to power our highly advance machinery.” the human scientist chuckled humorlessly, and her eyes gave off an annoyed glare directed towards the floor and shook her head, “Wow, this is great! Just _great_!”

“WHAT?” Papyrus said as he looked down at the brother in his arms, “SANS! HOW COULD YOU! YOU KNOW HOW DANGEROUS THAT IS! YOU COULD HAVE-“ 

But, the little skeleton was already asleep, the drama of that day had clearly tired him out. He cooed softly in his sleep as he curled closer to his brother while grabbing fistfuls of his orange shirt. 

Papyrus pouted, “UGH, I CAN’T EVEN SCOLD YOU PROPERLY LIKE THIS.”

“Oh, no. Oh, nonononononono. This is bad, this is really really bad.” Dr. Alphys breathed rapidly and frantically turned to Beatrice, “W-What are we going to do now? We can’t j-just extract Sans’ magic.”

“You’re right we can’t, at least not in good conscience.” The human sighed, “Well, if there is no written formula for SDT, the only chance we have would be to find his secret stash. If he even has one.”

“HE HAS A SECRET STASH TOO!?” Papyrus exclaimed,

“W-We think so.” Alphys explained, “Sans talked a lot about it. H-He said it in a joking way, but it wouldn’t be hard to believe it actually exists.”

Papyrus groaned loudly at hearing this. Alphys wanted to as well. Knowing that if it were true, then her friend must have given up a lot of his precious magic just for the sake of the Renovar Project. Just the thought of it made her feel a little nauseous.

“HAVE YOU CHECKED HIS LAB YET?” Papyrus asked after a few moments of thought.

“Y-Yes, and we haven’t found anything in there.”

“WELL, WHAT ABOUT HIS OTHER LAB?”

“Wait, what?” Undyne asked, her attention now caught. Her eye widened as he snapped her head toward Papyrus, “Sans has another lab? His own _secret_ lab”

Papyrus nodded, 

“Well where is it?!” Undyne shouted. The fish woman’s triceps became tense and toned as she stiffened up . . .

Alphys bashfully looked away and she felt her face grow hot.

Luckily, Papyrus was quick to answer, “BACK IN OUR OLD HOUSE IN SNOWDIN, IN THE BASEMENT.”

“Snowdin.” Undyne’s single eye narrowed, “You mean back in the Underground?! Like a hundred miles from here!?”

“OF COUSE BACK IN THE UNDERGROUND, WHERE ELSE WOULD IT BE? (AND I DOUBT THAT IT’S A HUNDRED MILES AWAY, UNDYNE.)”

“And you’re sure he would hide it there.” Beatrice asked,

“UM . . . PRETTY SURE.” The skeleton replied, “ALMOST POSITIVE.”

The human scientist sighed in frustration as she tightened her ponytail. “Well, that’s the best bet we’ve got right now.” She then turned back to Undyne, “Do you think you could take us there this weekend?”

Undyne smirked, “If you didn’t ask I would have volunteered myself.” She then turned to Papyrus and gave him an enthusiastic (but still gentle because he was still holding an infant) slap on the back. “And you’re coming with us. You’re the only one who would have some idea what goes on in that numbskull’s head. You’d be better at hunting down his secret stash than any of us.”

“ME!?” Papyrus asked, “BUT WHAT ABOUT SANS? I CAN’T JUST LEAVE HIM ALONE AT HOME.”

“Can’t you just ask Asgore or Toriel to babysit?” 

“NO, I CANNOT. LADY TORIEL AND KING ASGORE ARE TAKING FRISK TO THE ZOO THAT WEEKEND.”

Beatrice’s eyes looked thoughtful for a moment, but then it lit up in a way that only happens when a person comes up with a brilliant idea. “Oh, why don’t you bring him over to my house. My family could watch over him while we are out.”

“REALLY?” Papyrus asked, incredulously, “THEY’S DO THAT?”

“Of course, my husband works at home anyway, and my oldest son has been wanting to babysit for a while now. The way I see it, it’s a win-win situation.”

“OH, YES DEFINITELY!” Papyrus smiled brightly. He would have hugged the scientist if he didn’t think he would wake Sans up by doing so, “THANK YOU HUMAN BEATRICE!”

“Think nothing of it. You can make it up to me by helping us find where he hides his, um . . . magical blood?”

Alphys cringed when her colleague said this. It made her skin crawl just thinking about it.

Papyrus then jumped off the table, “THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ALL OF YOUR HELP, BUT I THINK IT’S ABOUT TIME WE TOOK OUR LEAVE.”

“Hey, no problem.” Beatrice said with a smile, “And if something like this happens again, do not hesitate to come over.”

“OH, BELIEVE ME, I’LL MAKE SURE IT WON’T HAPPEN AGAIN. THE FIRST CHANGE I GET I AM GOING TO A HEALER TO PURCHASE SEVERAL MAGICAL SUPPRESSANTS.” 

The skeleton said his final goodbyes, then left the room, his baby brother in tow.

“I-I-I’ll see you later Undyne.” Dr. Alphys stuttered,

Undyne could see the small lizard monster’s small tremors. She knelt down beside her and gave her a quick peck on the cheek. “Hey, don’t stress about this. We’ll figure this out, okay?”

Alphys just nodded. 

Unsatisfied, but already planning how to fix her girlfriend’s mood at home, Undyne left to catch up with Papyrus.

“I guess we better do some damage control.” Beatrice said, referring to the small cluster of scientists who had hung around the office, straining to see what all the commotion was.

“You go on ahead. I-I’ll meet up with you all later . . . I-I just need a moment.”

Beatrice didn’t say anything. She just nodded her head and left the room quietly and without a word.

Now Alphys was alone with only her thoughts to keep her company.

Alright. They had a plan now. It wasn’t much, but it was still something. It was still a chance to bring Sans back. All they had to do now was fix the machine and everything would go back to normal.

But . . .

Alphys still couldn’t believe that all this time Sans, her friend and colleague, had been literally putting his “blood” into this project. He had been sacrificing so much, and for what? To make a good impression to the humans? To help monsters integrate into the scientific field? To give Alphys the chance to jump start her own robotics experiments?

It wasn’t worth his decline in health.

Alphys sat at her desk and rests her head on top of the cool, dark wood.

She should have been a better friend. Maybe if she had done something sooner, they could have avoided this whole mess.

————————

_It was late. Way past the little skeleton’s bedtime, but he couldn’t sleep. So he waited. He sat on the bottom bunk of the bed, Sans’ bed, clutching his new balloon turkey so tightly it might have popped if he squeezed it anymore._

_It had been hours since Dr. Gaster had taken Sans down into the basement. It normally didn’t take this long to give Sans his shots. What was going on down there?_

_Papyrus sniffled softly, trying with all his might to will away the new wave of tears. That was when he heard the sound of the front door closing from across the room._

_The small skeleton jumped up from the bed and was about to run down the stairs, but then the image of his father’s face before he left hours ago resurfaced in his mind. He decided that it would be better for him to wait were he was, standing somewhat awkwardly in the middle of the room._

_The door swung open, and in came Gaster holding Sans in his arms, just like when he left. But now, both of Sans’ eye sockets were covered up by bandages that were wrapped around his head and stained with red, blue, and yellow magic. He looked a little flushed, and the cyan across his cheekbones made him look feverish. He wasn’t coughing anymore and he seemed to be breathing easier, but he was still shivered like he had been dunked into the frosty river near their house._

_“WHAT HAPPENED!?” Papyrus said immediately, his pent-up anxiety coming out for all to see, “IS SANS OKAY!? WHY IS HE STILL SLEEPING!? WHAT DID YOU DO!?”_

**_“Papyrus, calm down, please.”_ ** _The doctor said,_ **_“You’re brother is exhausted and needs to rest.”_ **

_Dr. Gaster walked over to the bunk bed and laid Sans on the bottom mattress. He then pulled one of the thicker blankets over Sans, tucking him in tightly. It didn’t fully stop his shivering, but Sans at least looked a little bit more comfortable than he was before._

_Papyrus climbed back onto the bed and sat next to his brother. He reached out to touch Sans’ skull, and just as he though, he was still very warm._

_“W-WHAT HAPPENED TO HIM?” he asked._

_Gaser just sighed in a sad and tired way, rubbing his hand across his face._ **_“This isn’t the kind of thing that-“_ **

_Papyrus latched onto Gaster’s radius, causing his father to look down at him.“PLEASE.” he begged wetly, “I-I WANT TO KNOW.”_

_When Gaster looked down at his son, his small eye sockets somehow glistened despite their lack of light, he knew he would give in,_

**_“Alright,”_ ** _He sighed as he pulled his son into his lap,_ **_“What is it you want to know?”_ **

_Papyrus looked at the bandages wrapped around his brothers skull.“WHY DID YOU COVER HIS EYES?”_

_Gaster’s eyes scrunched up sorrowfully as he frowned. He glanced over at his unconscious son, reached his free hand out toward him, and gently brushed it against his still boiling hot skull._

**_“There was just too much magic for his body to safely sustain. I tried to extract it as quickly as I could. But . . . it burst out of his eye, blowing it out in the process.”_ **

_Papyrus gasped and brought his hands up to his mouth. “I-I-IS SANS . . . B-BLIND?” he was on the verge of tears again._

**_“No,”_ ** _Gaster rubbed his hand up and down Papyrus spine in a soothing manner,_ **_“I was able to save his sight just in time.”_ ** _Gaster then sighed sadly,_ **_“However, there is . . . permanent damage in his right eye socket. Most likely . . . he’ll never be able to summon is magic in that eye again.”_ **

_Papyrus felt his nonexistent stomach drop. Never? Never as in never ever? Never using magic again?_

_Papyrus couldn’t stop the new flood of tears this time. Sans wouldn’t be able to use his magic like before because of him! Because he . . ._

_“THIS IS ALL MY FAULT!” Papyrus sobbed, “I’M A TERRIBLE BOTHER! I-I SHOULD HAVE TOLD YOU! I SHOULD HAVE TOLD YOU THAT SANS WAS HURT! I SH-SHOULD HAVE-“_

_After that, Papyrus’ words became incomprehensible as he bawled harder. Gaster pulled his youngest son into a much needed hug. While Papyrus cried into his chest, Gaster tried his best to comfort him and offer soothing words._

**_“Shh, shh, Papyrus, listen to me. This is not your fault. You couldn’t have known that this would happen. If this is anyone’s fault, it is mine.”_ **

_“N-NO IT’S NOT.” Papyrus reassured him between his hitched breaths, “YOU’D NEVER HURT SANS. NOT MALICIOUSLY AT LEAST.”_

_Despite the situation, the corners of Gaster’s mouth twisted upwards slightly,_ **_“Did your teacher give you a new vocabulary list?”_ ** _Papyrus nodded his head against his father’s chest. Gaster smiled somberly as he continued to rub soothing circles on his child’s back,_ **_“I appreciate your faith in me.”_ **

_For a long time neither of them spoke. Which, at the moment, Papyrus preferred. He tried to get a hold of himself again, but every time he looked over to Sans, every time he saw the bandages around his eyes, every time he thought about this whole situation, it just made him want to cry even more._

_Gaster didn’t think it necessary to quiet Papyrus down. He needed to let out his emotions. It took a while, but Papyrus’ cried were slowly reduced to sniffling and silent tears. That was when Gaster spoke again._

**_“Papyrus,”_ ** _Gaster started, hesitantly,_ **_“I need to ask a favor of you?”_ **

_Papyrus nodded slowly as he lifted his head off of his fathers chest so that he could look him in the eye lights,_

_Gaster continued,_ **_“Sans is. . . stubborn to say the least, apathetic at most. He will get hurt again. It is just an inevitable fact of life, and I may not always be around when he does. So, I need you to make me a promise.”_ **

_Gaster paused for a moment, probably trying to figure out how to properly word what he wanted to say,_ **_“Whenever you see that Sans has been hurt, even if it’s just a small bruise, you need to make sure that he doesn’t withhold his treatment like he did today. Otherwise . . . I’m not sure if he’d ever be able to use his magic ever again.”_ **

_Gaster signed heavily. his face was full of sorrow,_ **_“I know, that this is a big responsibility, especially for one so young, and I shouldn’t even be asking this of you. But Sans needs you to look out for him, just as much as he looks out for you, maybe even more. He listens to you, and I know that if you really tried, you could convince him to do just about anything. He needs a little bit of your infectious bravery to help him through his own trials.”_ **

_Gaster closed his eyes for a moment, and when he opened them again, he looked at his little boy and said,_ **_“My son, will you promise to look after your brother when I cannot?”_ **

_Papyrus didn’t even need to think twice before he nodded, “_ _ I PROMISE _ _.” He loved his brother, and he loved his dad. He would do anything to keep Sans safe._

_Gaster smiled sweetly as he brushed his punctured hand across his son’s skull._ **_“What did I ever do to deserve such an amazing child?”_ **

_Papyrus nuzzled into Gaster’s chest, hugging him as he willed away the tears in his eye sockets. Then, he suddenly felt really tired, though, it was mostly emotionally._

_Gaster, seeing his son beginning to nod off, picked him up effortlessly and laid him on the bottom bunk of the bed, next to Sans. But just as he was about to pull away, Papyrus tugged on his sleeve._

_“Dad.” Papyrus whispered,“Could you . . . sleep with us tonight.”_

_Gaster’s eyes softened,_ **_“Of course.”_ ** _After all, how could he say no?_

_He slipped onto the bed, near the edge so Papyrus would be between both him and Sans, and he rested his skull on the head board. He was sure he would have a sore neck in the morning, but right now, he couldn’t have care less._

_Papyrus wrapped his arms around his father’s middle, using him as a pillow to make sure he wouldn’t leave during the night. Gaster slung his own arm around Papyrus, softly stroking his skull to sooth him to sleep._

_The tall skeleton sighed heavily, dragging a hand across his tired eye sockets. It was quite an eventful day. Not only had work been a living nightmare, but this whole ideal had definitely taken a couple decades off his lifespan. He made a mental note to call the school tomorrow to tell them that his sons would not be attending that day. They both deserved a break._

_A few minutes later, Papyrus began to loosened up in his father’s hold as sleep drew nearer to him. He let out a big yawn and then mumbled quietly under his breath. “_ _SANS DOESN’T BLAME YOU, YOU KNOW? HE NEVER HAS.”_

**_“He may not.”_ ** _Gaster replied, but just as Papyrus drifted off, he added:_ **_“But I do, everyday.”_ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just in case I wasn't clear or obvious, here is an overly simplified (and comical) explanation of what Sans "condition" is:
> 
> * Sans gets hurt.
> 
> Normal magic: Oh no, we better fix that.  
> SDT: HELL YEAH! LET'S DO THIS!
> 
> * Body is healed.
> 
> Normal magic: Okay, I think that's enough-  
> SDT: NO! LET'S HEAL SOME MORE!  
> Normal magic: But we already fixed-  
> SDT: NO! MUST BECOME STRONGER!!!!
> 
> * SDT punches normal magic in the face, steals its home, and proceeds to set it on fire.
> 
> It's manageable, but they have to catch it within a certain time slot, or else death. His magic only ever has to be extracted in those instances when they wait too long
> 
> Make sense? Cool. See you next time!


	15. Laundry & Science Fairs

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey there! I hope you all are staying safe during this crazy time. I hope you like this new chapter.

Warm . . .

Soft . . .

Sleepy . . .

. . .

“What the- how did you get into the laundry bin!?”

Sans had been drifting into a lovely dream when a pair or thick vines that wrapped around his torso and yanked him out of it. They pulled him out of the warm, snuggly pile of clothes he had discovered and into the scratchy and less desirable carpet. He whined as squirmed, frustratedly. 

All he wanted to do was take a nap in peace. Was that to much to ask? Yesterday had been terrible. He just wanted to sleep and forget all about it, thank you very much. But it was hard to stop remembering the pain he felt in his chest and how much it burned and ached. How it felt like he was going to explode. Hard to forget the fear he felt and how scared Papyrus looked when he poked the little skeleton with the needles. He really wanted to forget that day ever happened. Hopefully those memories would disappear just like all his bad dreams did. 

“How did you even manage to climb into that basket? It’s taller than you even if you could stand up.”

But now, this stranger was disrupting his nap time. He looked up to give the person (probably Undyne) a stink eye, but then he saw a stranger in front of him. It was a familiar looking stranger too.

He looked a lot like Flowey, but he had orange circles around his face instead of yellow ones. Sans tilted his head to the side. He wondered who this was. Maybe he was a new friend? Curious, Sans reached his tiny hand out to grab New Friend, but he slithered away from his grasp.

New Friend looked at him with a weird face, “Why are you looking at me like that?”

“bababababa.” Sans babbled an explanation he didn’t have, and he continued to reach out towards New Friend, smiling widely and giggling. The little skeleton squirmed in place on the carpet, trying to move closer to him. He pushed himself onto his hands and knees, like Papyrus had taught him a couple days ago. Then, one knee in front of the other, hand by hand, Sans began to crawl towards his New Friend.

New Friend backed away. “Oh, no! I’m not going through that again. Stay away from me you slimy little trash bag!”

New Friend started to slither away, but Sans grabbed onto one of his roots and began to pull him back towards himself.

“Nononono! Asgore! Help me! AHHHHH!”

Sans reeled New Friend closer and closer back to him. The flower continued to wriggle and squirm in his grasp, but Sans had a really good gip on Friend. 

Then, when he finally had New Friend’s head close enough to him, he pulled him into a big, squishy hug.

New Friend froze and seemed a little. . . shocked? Sans didn’t know, but he did notice how soft New Friends circles were. It wasn’t quite as nice as Papyrus’ scarf or the warm clothes he had been sleeping only a few moments ago, but it still felt nice. He cooed and nuzzled New Friend affectionately. He liked New Friend already, and he was much nicer than Flowey was.

They stayed like this for a few seconds before New Friend tried to wriggle out of Sans’ hug, but the little skeleton wouldn’t allow his friend to get away that easily.

“Somebody! Anybody! Please help me!” New Friend yelled.

Sans was so concentrated on his task that he didn’t realize that someone was coming into the room until they were standing in the doorway.

“Flowey? Have you found Sans yet? We have to get going soon.” Asgore said as he looked down at the scene before him, he looked surprise.

“bapa! bapa!” Sans squealed in delight. He waved New Friend in the air to show him of to Asgore before pulling him back into a hug. New Friend once again struggled and was now reaching out towards the giant monster.

“Asgore! Thanks goodness! You gotta help me our here-“

“Oh my stars,” Asgore gasped as his eyes widened and a huge smile grew on his face, “Don’t move! Were is the camera? I need to get a picture of this! Oh, Toriel will love this!”

“WHAT?! No! Asgore! Don’t leave me alone . . . with . . . him . . .” but it was too late, Asgore had already left the room in search for a “camera”. Whatever that was. It was just Sans and New Friend again.

New Friend shook a little bit, like he was scared or something. Sans smiled again, because he knew just what to do to help him. 

As he continued to hold onto him tight, Sans sent pulses of his own magic into New Friend, just like he did with all of his friends who were sad. But, as his magic traveled through New Friend’s body, it soon disappeared. No colors flashed before his eyes, and New Friend still looked sad.

That was . . . odd. Where was New Friend’s Special Center? It has to be there somewhere, right? Everyone had a Special Center as far as Sans knew. New Friend’s must be so tiny that it was harder to find it. He would just have to keep looking then.

Sans’ face became hard and focused as he continued to search for the Special Center, but no matter how much magic he gave, he just couldn’t sense it anywhere. It was really frustrating.

New Friend looked up at Sans then snorted, “You know you aren’t gonna find anything, right?”

Sans pouted and ignored New Friend’s words. Continuing to push his magic into the orange flower.

“Are you ever gonna give up?”

“nana nana na.” Sans babbled, thoughtlessly.

New Friend sighed, smiling softly. “yep, that’s what I thought.”

Asgore burst the room again, this time with a big metal rectangle. Sans recognized this magic rectangle because Asgore would sometimes let him play with it when he was busy and nobody else was home. He knew that this magical rectangle had a lot of moving pictures and bright colors inside it, and sometimes when he touched the surface of it, the images would change into something new. Sans didn’t know how Asgore had managed to trap all these pictures and colors into the little rectangle, but he was glad he had managed to do so, because they often offered hours of entertainment when Papyrus was busy or Toriel was in the “bathroom” for long amounts of time.

“Good, I didn’t miss anything.” Asgore smiled as he started touching the magic rectangle. He then held it up in front of the smaller monsters, “Okay, you two, smile for the camera.”

Suddenly, there was a blinding flash of light. On instinct, Sans’ eyes closed. They burned slightly at the abruptness of the flash. When he rose a fist to rub into his eye socket, he could feel New Friend wrenching out of his grasp. He managed to peek his eyes open again, and New Friend was now hiding behind Asgore’s foot.

Sans whined and crawled towards New Friend, but was once again picked up! This time, it was Asgore who had lifted him off the ground. Sans pouted as he made grabby hands toward New Friend, kicking and squirming with all his might to try and reach him, but it was no use. He was thwarted by Asgore’s giant, fluffy hands.

“Finally!” New Friend sighed loudly. He then looked up angrily at Asgore, “I’ve could have died you know! I’m telling you, he has it out to get me and you just left me with him!”

“Oh, come now Flowey,” Ashore said as he looked down at New Friend, “Don’t be so dramatic. Sans was just playing with you, and you know it.”

At the mention of Flowey, Sans also turned his eyes down to look at New Friend. He was confused. Flowey wasn’t in the room. It was just him, Asgore, and New Friend, so why would Asgore call New Friend Flowey?

. . . 

. .

.

Wait a second. 

But then, Sans’ thoughts were disrupted by a loud ringing that came downstairs. Asgore’s head shot up to the sound. He then looked down at New Friend once again, “Could you wait in the car, please? I need to take this call.” 

“Tch, whatever.” New Friend rolled his eyes, “Just be quick, okay? I don’t want to wait any longer just to be Frisk’s stupid science project.”

New Friend and Asgore both climbed down the stairs, but when they reached the bottom, New Friend slithered into the hallway while Asgore walked into the kitchen and up to a plastic box on the wall. The plastic box was making the really loud ringing noise Sans had heard upstairs, but it stopped once Asgore grabbed hold of it and brought one end of the box up to his ear.

“Hello, Dreemur Residents. Who is this? . . . Oh, hello Mr. Peters! How are things in the office? . . . That’s good to hear. Now, I do not mean to sound rude, but is there a reason you are calling me now? I have to be at Frisk’s school in fifteen minutes I was under the impression the adoption case was practically completed . . . Of course, but can we make this fast, . . . Great, what is it you need to tell me?” 

Sans for bored fast. The little voice coming from the plastic box was not interesting at all, so he started to play with the yellow fur that hung down from the Asgore’s face. He really liked the long fur, it was super soft and sometimes the boss monster would make funny faces when he pulled on it. Sans experimentally tugged on a locks of golden fur, but this time Asgore didn’t play along with him. 

Shoot. Oh well, he could still play with his beard.

“What?” Asgore gasped out, startling Sans slightly. He looked up to see Asgore’s aghast face. “A-Are you sure? You did a background check and everything? . . . O-Oh, my . . . Yes, yes. I’m fine, this just came as a bit of a shock. I never realized that Frisk still . . .” Asgore trailed off.

The little voice in the box kept talking and Asgore still looked really scared. Without a moment of hesitation, Sans placed his small hand onto Asgore’s snout and pushed his tiny magic into the boss monster’s Special Center.

This time, Sans’ eye flashed through the colors like they were supposed to.The lights continued to stutter until the colors yellow and green remained in his single eye. 

But Asgore didn’t look down at Sans. He didn’t see the colors flashing in his eye. Nor did he see the results of the little skeleton’s magic. He just felt numb . . . and lost.

“Okay . . . Yes, I think that would be best. When can we meet her? . . . Today? So soon? . . . I suppose so . . . Okay, we’ll keep an eye out for her . . . No, thank you Mr. Peters for telling me. I really appreciate it . . . Yes, talk to you soon, bye.”

Then, Asgore put the plastic box back onto the wall. He didn’t move for what seemed like forever to the little skeleton. He was just looking at the wall with wide, sorrow filled eyes.

To get the boss monster’s attention, Sans grabbed a fistful of the his fur and tugged on it hard, pulling out a few loose strands in the process. This time, when Asgore, turned to the infant, he did see the faintest color in Sans’ eye just as it faded away back to it’s natural lights. He smiled a little, but it quickly turned back into a frown.

Just then, Asgore grabbed the plastic box once again and started to punch in small buttons on it. He waited for a few moments, until a different small voice echoed from the strange device.

“Toriel,” Asgore spoke with reluctance. His eyes looked sad and narrow as he stared at the wall, “There’s something I need to tell you.”

————-

“I’M BOOORRRREEEED!” Flowey whined, loudly. “When is this TORTURE going to be OVER!?”

“It won’t be long now.” Frisk told her flower friend. She had to stand on her tiptoes to be eye level with him on her presentation table, “The judging should be done any moment now.”

“Why can’t they just HURRY UP!?” he moaned again, but Frisk just ignored the flower’s sour mood.

Although Flowey’s attitude wouldn’t show it, they actually did very well in presenting their project to the judges. The small auditorium of Frisk’s school was packed with science projects and family members, and they were all here to support their own children.

Frisk scanned the room for the other members of her family. She spotted Alphys talking with the science lab teacher, probably talking about more advance science stuff that kids like Frisk would not understand until they got into high school, at least. Undyne was with her too, and she would sometimes chime in with her own thoughts and opinions, but she mainly just listened to the two of them with a toothy smile on her face.

Sans was currently in a baby carrier strapped to Papyrus’ chest, and they were both being mobbed by all the single moms and older sisters in the room. All the girls fawned over Sans, and the little skeleton loved the attention. He giggled and squealed as he reached out to all of them to play. 

Even Papyrus was getting some recognition. He got plenty of complements on how cute Sans, which made him light up like a Gyftmas tree. They also kept asking questions like “How old is he?” to which Papyrus would reply, cheerfully,“HE’S ONE-HUNDRED NINTY-EIGHT YEARS OLD!” This resulted in a lot of flustered looks both directed at Papyrus and Sans. 

Frisk just had to laugh. She didn’t even care if other people heard her. The looks on their faces was just too priceless.

She then spotted her parents standing near the entrance to the auditorium. They both looked tense and sad for some reason, but Frisk didn’t know why. They did mention that they would be expecting a guest to drop by the science fair later. Maybe that’s why they are so on edge. Frisk didn’t know who was coming, but she assumed it had to be someone important, like a government official or a social worker. It’s the only thing that would make sense, after all. 

Frisk decided that there was not much point in getting worried over it though. While Toriel and Asgore weren’t easily frightened, they always managed to come out of their trials stronger and wiser than before, even when they made mistakes. And if things turned for the worst, Frisk was always there to help them feel better at the end of the day.

She was sure everything would work itself out, and then they would finally be a real family, and nobody could take them away from her again.

Frisk turned her attention away from her parents and began to scan the crowds for the last (and secretive) member of her family. It took some doing, but Frisk finally spotted Chara floating over the shoulder of one of the judges, stealing a peek at their clipboard. She smiled and then looked up at Frisk. She flew towards the human girl, flying through several humans as she did this and sending a cold shiver up their spines. She then hovered close to the hardwood floor next to Frisk.

“So?” Frisk whispered to the Chara.

Chara smirked triumphantly, **“Oh, you’re definitely going to win. You are _way_ above everyone else. These snot nosed brats have got nothing on you.”**

Frisk face lightened up and she danced a little in place. She was so excited. 

“ _Snk,_ what was that about?” Flowey snorted as he watched Frisk pump her fists silently in the air.

Frisk beamed over at her the flower, “I really think we’re going to win this. Oh, thank you so much Flowey! I’d never be able to do this without you!”

Flowey blushed then turned away, “Tch, whatever.”

Frisk was still beaming. Chara continued to talk to her about some of the other project she had seen and how they were nothing compared to her project. **“ . . . I mean, one kid literally made a baking soda volcano. Can you believe that? How unoriginal can you get? And he didn’t even have any experiment to go with it. It’s like he just looked up How To Build A Volcano on the internet and just built it himself. It looked like a pathetic lump of newspaper drawn over with crayons. And the best part is, it didn’t even get to explode. The judges wouldn’t let him do a live presentation because they were afraid of the mess it would make. So we will never know if it actually worked or not.”** Chara roared with laughter, but Frisk had to strain to keep her face neutral. **“Yeah, the best prize that kid’s gonna get is a participation certificate.”**

While Chara spoke, Frisk tried her best to keep her attention roaming the room. This wasn’t because she was being rude to her ghostly friend, but because it would have looked pretty weird if she just stared at empty space for several minutes. Frisk and Chara had both agreed that it was probably for the better that no one knew about their situation. Not only would most people not believe her, but they might try and throw her into a mental hospital, and that really wouldn’t have helped with her adoption case. So, the two had a secret sisterhood, and they were okay with that.

“Hey, Frisk?” Flowey suddenly said, warily. His voice broke Frisk out of her thoughts and she turned to face the flower, “Just so you know, that lady over there has been staring at you for the past five minutes.” Flowey then pointed into the crowd. Frisk looked in that direction.

And just as Flowey said, there was a woman leaning against the wall at the edge of the auditorium, looking at Frisk. She was kinda short, or maybe Frisk was just comparing her with all the tall monster that she lived with. Her hair was a dark brown that matched her eyes perfectly. She was very pretty, and she was dressed in a way that looked like she just got off a business meeting. She wore a professional looking coat, blouse, and suit pants.

For a moment, the two locked eyes with each other. Frisk didn’t look away and the woman took this as her cue to stand up and walk towards the small child and her science presentation.

Frisk stole a glance at Chara and saw that she was glaring at the approaching stranger. Frisk could feel the loathing Chara felt for this unknown human in her soul, but pushed it away.

There was no need to judge this woman so harshly yet. Not until they had all the facts.

When the woman finally made it up to Frisk, She just stood there with her mouth open slightly. Like there was something she wanted to say, but she didn’t know how to say it. 

“Hello.” the woman finally said after a few awkward moments.

“Um, hello?” Frisk replied politely. Who was this lady? Was she a social worker? She wasn’t one Frisk had ever seen before, and she didn’t even have a badge on. Maybe she was undercover? Frisk decided to be on her best behavior, just in case. 

“Would you like to see my science project?” she asked, just like her teacher had taught her to do.

The woman’s smile grew bigger, and Frisk could have sworn she saw tears rimming in the corners of her eyes, “Yes, I would love that.”

“Okay.” Frisk was uncertain about this, but continued to present her project just like she had done with the judges.

**“Frisk! What are you doing!?”** Chara hissed harshly. She could almost feel the ghost’s breath on her neck, but Frisk didn’t answer. She couldn’t, not when there was so many people surrounding her. How would it look if the ambassador of monsters was talking to thin air. So, Frisk continued to set up her sideshow.

Chara groaned loudly, **“Alright, fine, be cordial to the crazy lady. Just, be careful Frisk.”** she warned, **“I don’t like her.”**

Frisk wanted to comment about how Chara didn’t like any humans, but she kept it to herself.

So, she started her presentation with her hypothesis. She showed a slideshow of the day by day color change of Flowey’s petals. Even Flowey recited a few flower facts, although, with less energy. In fact, he was giving the lady a nasty look the entire time. His roots were even poking out of the soil on his pot slightly in a defensive but nonthreatening manner. Frisk knew that he was just being cautious, but she silently hoped that he would not do anything brash without cause.

When Frisk recited her conclusion (Some flowers will mix colors when their water is dyed, but it always helps to have a magical flower for this experiment) she turned back to the woman. There were tears running down her cheeks silently while she just smiled at Frisk with . . . was it affection?

“Ma’am, are you okay, you’re crying.” Frisk pointed out. She was starting to get a little freaked out now.

“O-Oh, am I?” The woman seemed flustered for a moment and hastily wiped away her tears, “I’m sorry. I’m just . . . I’m just so happy to finally meet you Frisk.”

Frisk’s eyes widened and she took a small step away from the woman. Behind her, she could feel Flowey becoming defensive too, like seriously going to push this lady aside if she even dared to touch the human child.

“H-How do you know my name?!” Frisk stuttered. Her eyes darting around the room. Was nobody seeing this? “Who are you?!”

**“Okay, that’s it! Go get mom and dad. They can protect you.”** Chara urged Frisk, and this time she listened.

“Oh no. I-I’m sorry Frisk. Please don’t be afraid- Stars this isn’t going how I planned at all.” The woman began to reach out to Frisk-

Then Frisk grabbed Flowey’s pot and bolted. 

With Chara following close beside her, she ran through the crowds and near the entrance where she had seen Toriel and Asgore standing only moments ago. She spotted them, and relief filled her lungs as she barreled into Toriel, hugging her leg tightly.

Toriel looked down in surprise while Asgore knelt down to be somewhat at level with Frisk. “My child?” Toriel asked, “What is the matter?”

“Toriel, there was a lady just now.” Flowey spoke for Frisk, who was shaking slightly from the adrenaline, “She knew Frisk’s name and was about to grab her. We ran away as quickly as we could.”

The two boss monsters shared a look, then Asgore put a large, soft paw gently on Frisk’s shaky shoulder to still and comfort her, “What did this woman look like?” he asked.

It was then that the woman emerged from the crowed and spotted Frisk again. Frisk yelped ad hid behind Toriel, hoping that the woman would take a hint. Unfortunately, she didn’t. She walked right up to Asgore, as confidant as a lawyer in a court they prepared for . . . and then she held out her hand.

“Asgore Dreemur?”

**“ . . . WHAT?!”** Chara screeched in indignation

Frisk was a little shocked too, but she quickly shook herself out of it. This was nothing knew. Asgore was a very famous monster. He had been on the news many times before this day. It would stand to reason that a stranger would recognize him, right?

But, why was the lady acting so . . . professional with him?

Asgore sighed so softly only Frisk could have heard it. He then stood up to full height, grabbed the woman’s extended hand, and shook it firmly, “Alice Destin, I presume?”

“What!?” Flowey whispered harshly. His eyes were wide in disbelief,

How did Asgore know this woman? Was she a city worker? A real estate agent? Or something like that? But then, why was she trying to get to know Frisk? Why did she try to grab her? Maybe she was an undercover social worker? 

Frisk’s soul dropped at the thought that she might have messed up, but her thoughts were halted when the woman spoke again.

“Yes, that is me. I’m so sorry for scaring Frisk, but I had just assumed that you had told her that I was coming.”

Toriel spoke politely as ever, “We did not get around to informing Frisk that you would be coming. It was pretty sudden, after all. I hope you understand.”

“Of course I do.” The woman said with a kind smile, “I’m just grateful that the social workers reached out to me.”

Frisk decided to steal a glance from behind Torial. She held a fistful of the boss monster’s skirt in her hand as she leaned to the side to catch a glance of the woman named Alice.

She was still smiling, and she still looked really happy. She seemed normal enough, but who was she?

Alice’s eyes fell down to meet with Frisk, and- 

“Who the hell are you, ya crazy lady?!” Flowey spat out, angrily.

“Flowey!“ Toriel scooped the flower out of Frisk’s hands, leaving the human feel a bit more vulnerable than before. ”I’m sorry, he’s usually better behaved than this.”

“No, I understand.” Alice reassured Toriel, “I’m a stranger to him, and I’ll admit that I didn’t make the best first impression, but I hope to fix that.”

She then crouched down so that she was sitting on her tiptoes, completely at eye level with Frisk. A warm, gentle hand nudged Frisk away from her hiding place behind Toriel and closer to the stranger. Frisk grabbed onto her golden locket and rubbed it as she looked up at Toriel, pleading with her eyes.

“It’s okay, my child.” Toriel reassured Frisk in her soft and kind way, “She will not hurt you, I promise.”

Frisk looked over at Asgore, who nodded encouragingly, then back at the woman, Alice.

She took a tentative step closer to the stranger named Alice, clutching her golden locket like a lifeline. She could feel Chara behind her, and seething with rage. Frisk felt some comfort in that. Even if Chara couldn’t do much to protect her, she could at least support her little sister.

It wasn’t until there was a foot in distance between the child and the adult when Alice spoke again, “I’m sorry that I scared you. I just . . . was so excited to see my little niece again.” 

. . . Niece? . . . What? . . .

Oh.

Oh no.

This can’t be true. This has to be a trick. A prank someone thought would be hilarious but really wasn’t. Frisk had no human family left. Not since . . .

“I believe that proper introductions are in order.” She then reached out her hand again for Frisk to shake, “My name is Alice. Alice Destin” she said with a watery smile, “I’m your aunt.”

Frisk felt her world shatter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bet you didn't see that coming! 
> 
> Also, full disclosure, I know nothing about law or the process to adopt a child, so I am sorry if there are some inaccuracies in my writing. I am just writing what I assume is what would happen.
> 
> Anyway, I hope you like this new chapter. Have a great day!


	16. What Happens Now?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm posting this at midnight when I should be sleeping. I hope you enjoy it! I made it extra fluffy just for you all.

“Frisk was my brother’s daughter.” Alice explained to the two boss monsters who sat around the dinner table. They were back in their house on Everett Drive. Frisk had said she was tired and wanted to go to bed, and the rest of the monsters decided to join her in that thought. As the other monsters left to their respective rooms, Toriel and Asgore stayed in the dinning room to listen to their guest.

Alice continued, “About five years ago, Timothy and his wife got into a terrible car accident. A drunk driver swerved into the wrong lane and . . . hit them at full speed. My brother died instantly from the impact, and his wife . . . she succumbed to her injuries in the hospital a few hours later.” Alice’s voice wavered slightly as she retold the story. Toriel understood her completely. Sometimes the wounds of the past could still hurt, even after they have healed. She let her take a moment to recompose herself. After a few seconds, Alice continued to speak.

“Frisk was only three years old at the time, so my mother, Opal Destin, took custody of her.”

“Why didn’t you take her in then?” Asgore sincerely asked. He was curious to know the past of Frisk. He and Toriel had never pushed the human child for the details of her life before she came to the Underground. They figured that anything that might have compiled the young girl to climb up the mountain, knowing full well the rumors associated with it, couldn’t have been good. They didn’t want to upset their daughter.

But now, they had a opportunity to get to know Frisk a little bit more, maybe even gain knowledge on how to help her better, and they were going to take that chance.

Alice sighed sorrowfully, “I was fairly young myself when it all happened. I was still in college and had many plans for my future and . . . and . . . apart of me didn’t want to see Frisk, because she reminded me so much of my brother and . . . I think that’s why I didn’t visit as much as I should. I-I know that I was being selfish, but I hope to fix things now.”

“Yes, it’s understandable,” Toriel reassured Alice. She then gently prompted, “Please, continue.”

“R-Right.” Alice took a deep breath, “So, my mother took Frisk in. She lived alone near the edge of Mt. Ebott for years before Frisk came into her life. It was the house that Timmy and I grew up in.” Alice smiled for a split second, remembering all the fond memories she shared with the place, before her face fell once again, “She always told me how lonesome it got when we left the nest, and I think that Frisk made my mothers last few years some of the best in her life.”

“ . . . Last few years?” Asgore asked, hesitantly. His and Toriel’s eyes were focused on Alice.

Alice’s gaze dropped for a moment, “ . . . About a year ago, I got a call . . . my mother had been dead for almost a week by the time they reached me. They said it was because of heart failure. When I asked how Frisk was handling it. They said that she wasn’t anywhere to be seen. I got back to Ebott as quickly as I could . . . but there was nothing I could do to help. There were so many investigations done, but all they could find were Frisk’s footprints going up the mountain. The police think that she was trying to get help at the nearest town, but she didn’t know where to go . . . Th-They all thought she had died.”

The rims of Alice’s eyes shimmered with her tears.

“So, after the funeral, I just . . . went back to my job. I-I tried to drown myself in my work to help me forget about everything . . . It wasn’t until a few days ago that I got the call. They told me that Frisk was still alive and living with you. I came here as quickly as I could, and here we are now.”

Alice smiled sorrowfully as her tears finally fell from her face. She must have noticed it, because she quickly hid her pink face in her hands.

“I-I’m s-sorry. I promised myself I-I wouldn’t get emotional. And yet, here I am.” Alice half-heartedly giggled at there last words, then took a deep breath to hold back her sob, furiously wiping away the flood of tears from her eyes.

“There is no need to apologize.” Toriel offered her sympathies to the woman. She rested her paw on Alice’s shoulder, “I know what it’s like to lose someone you love with all your heart. It can tear at your soul and leave you feeling empty. You have every right to still feel sad over the losses in your life.”

Alice sniffed then looked up at the boss monster, “Thank you.”

It took a minute or two for Alice to compose herself, and even when she did her eyes were still pink. “I just want to thank you all for caring for Frisk for all this time. You didn’t have to, and I can’t tell you how grateful I am.”

“We wanted to care for Frisk. We love her so much. All of us.” Toriel smiled brightly, “She has been an angel to us all . . . and we couldn’t imagine our lives without her.”

Suddenly, Alice’s expression became serious, “Yes, I understand.” she sighed, “There’s a lot we have to discuss, isn’t there?”

———————-

Frisk won the science fair, to nobody’s surprise, but she didn’t feel as excited about her victory as she thought she would. Her shiny trophy was left forgotten on her side table as she sat quietly on her bed, hugging her pillow close to her body.

Her mind was racing, yet she had no thoughts in her head. She still couldn’t believe that these past events were even real.

She has an aunt.

She had an aunt this whole time.

She . . . She didn’t know how she felt.

She felt . . . angry, and surprised, and sad, and anxious, and nauseous, and lonely, and frustrated, and-

**“Your soul is frantic”** Frisk looked up to see Chara hovering nearby. She awkwardly wrung her hands together, giving Frisk a sympathetic look, **“How . . . how can I help.”**

“You can make that lady downstairs disappear forever.” Frisk grumbled quietly.

With a smirk, Chara snorted with amusement, **“I don’t believe my powers extend to dematerialization.”**

Frisk giggled softly and sniffled, “Well, I could go for a hug.” She looked up at the ghost with big, watery eyes.

Chara paused, **“ . . . Fine, but you know I’m not that good at them.”**

“I don’t care. Just . . . please?” 

Chara smiled softly, then floated closer to her. Frisk could feel the cool, misty arms wrap around her shoulders in a cold but welcomed embrace. Frisk clutched the pillow she was hugging tighter. She pretended that it was Chara as the ghost hugged her as hard as she could in her current form.

**“Hey”** Chara’s soft voice whispered close to Frisk’s ear, **“We’re going to be okay. Got it?”**

“How can you be so sure?” Frisk asked, wetly.

**“Because I believe in our family, and they wouldn’t let you go without a fight.”**

Frisk knew that was true. She hoped it was true. She really really _really . . ._

Chara, seeming to sense the unease in Frisk, doubled her efforts to comfort her soul bonded sister. She may have not been very good at hugs, mostly due to her being a ghost and all, but she embraced Frisk in hopes that this small action would make her feel better. It helped, but only a little.

**“It’ll be okay Frisk. Stay determined . . . and don’t reset.”** Chara added with a smirk. Frisk smiled at their funny little motto, but it was strained and lopsided. Chara hugged her tighter.

Just then, there was a quick and sudden knock at the door. It made Frisk jump. She quickly wiped the tears off her face. “W-Who is it.”

“It’s me, Papyrus.” A familiar voice penetrated through the wood of the door, “May I come in, please?”

Frisk looked over at Chara, who still hadn’t left her side. **“What are you looking at me for? You know he’s just gonna barge in anyway.”**

Frisk sighed, that was true. There was nothing stopping him from coming in. He was just asking to be polite.

So, Frisk looked over to the door and said, “Y-Yeah.”

Quietly and carefully, the door was pushed open by the tall skeleton Frisk knew and loved. Papyrus then gently closed the door, walked over to Frisk’s bed, and say down on its bouncy surface. Chara just stayed as she was, as a silent spectator.

“Hello Frisk!” Papyrus said, his voice at a much lower volume than what he usually preferred.

“Hi.” Frisk whispered. She noticed that the skeleton’s arms were empty. “Where’s Sans?”

Papyrus smiled, “I settled him down for his evening nap. He’s had a pretty exhausting day, what with all the attention we got at the science fair. He was out like a light in less than five minutes.”

The blaring quiet engulfed the two of them for a while.

“Um . . .” Papyrus’ eye socket’s darted around the room, finally landing on Frisk’s new science trophy, “Wowie! Your trophy sure looks cool!

“Thanks.” Frisk squeaked out,

“I mean it! It looks amazing! It’s not even one of those cheap plastic kinds either. It looks like it’s made of real gold-painted metal. Very nice.” Papyrus beamed at Frisk, “We’re all very proud of your accomplishment.”

“Mhm.”

There was a thick silence between the two for a long time. Frisk didn’t dare look up at Papyrus’ face for fear of losing what minimum control she had over her emotions.

“So . . .” Papyrus finally said after what felt like an eternity, “She’s your aunt.”

There it is. 

Frisk nodded silently, hugging her pillow even tighter.

“T-That must be very exciting. Having another family member you never knew about.” Papyrus tried to smile, “You’ll get to learn all about her, like what her favorite food is, whether she prefers summer over winter. This will be so exciting for you.”

“I don’t want to get to know her.” Frisk growled in a low voice, “I don’t even want her here. I just want her to go away and never come back.”

“WHAT!?” Papyrus shouted. He looked like he wanted to say more, but then he took a deep breath to lower his volume again, “Frisk, how can you say that? She is your family.”

“No, she’s not!” Frisk exclaimed. She wasn’t shouting, but she was very close to it, “You guys are my family. Nana was my family. Alice is not!”

Papyrus’ face scrunched up like her words caused him pain, “Frisk, it’s not fair to judge someone before you get to know them.”

“I told you! I don’t want to get to know her. She wasn’t there for me. She’s never been. She wasn’t there when Nana died. She never came for me when I was alone in that foster home. She doesn’t deserve to be my aunt!”

“ . . . Foster home?”

. . . 

**“Oh shhhhhoot.”** Chara hissed.

Frisk bit her tongue. She had said too much.

“I don’t recall you ever mentioning that you lived in a foster home before.”

Frisk sighed and his her face in her pillow, clutching her golden locket tightly, “It’s complicated.” Her muffled voice penetrated through the softness of her pillow, “You wouldn’t understand.”

Papyrus placed a gentle hand on Frisk’s back, “I think I’d understand more than you think.” 

“No, you wouldn’t.”

“Try me.”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“You just- I-I can’t, okay? I just can’t. I-I don’t want to . . . hurt you.”

. . .

“Is that were you always went.”

“Hm?”

Papyrus took a deep breath, bracing himself, “A-After you left the Underground all those times. You went to a foster home, right?”

Frisk’s heart felt like it stopped beating for a second. She snapped her neck to look up at Papyrus with shocked, fearful eyes. Papyrus looked back at her, his own eye sockets filled with sympathy.

**“No way.”** Chara’s eyes were filled with the same amazed horror as Frisk **“You don’t think . . .”**

Papyrus continued, not hearing the ghost in the room, “I’m guessing that they weren’t very nice to you there, were they . . . Was that the reason you . . . 

Papyrus took a deep breath, bracing himself. “you always r-reset?”

. . .

**“NO WAY!”** Chara exclaimed, staring at Papyrus with wide eyes. **“Seriously! All this time! Wow! Just . . . just wow! This whole time!”**

While Chara was still processing this new information, Frisk choked on her own voice, staring dumbly at Papyrus. When she spoke, it was cracked and raw, “You knew?”

Papyrus nodded slowly.

“H-How long?”

“Since forever.”

**“Forever!? He knew about the resets all this time!? Oh my- I just can’t believe it!”** Frisk ignored Chara’s ranting. It wasn’t helpful anyway. Just distracting.

“W-Why didn’t you tell me.” Frisk whimpered, still trying to keep her emotions at bay, but some were leaking out.

Papyrus face bore a sorrowful expression, “I wanted to Frisk, believe me, I wanted to, but you must understand. Before you came along, Flowey was the one who had control over the resets, and he wasn’t as kind as you. He caused damage just as often as he fixed it. When Sans confronted him about it, Flowey tortured him. Then when the next reset came, he just continued to toy with Sans, because he knew that my brother remembered everything. It was terrible.” 

Frisk could see the pain in Papyrus’ features as he told her all this, “I wanted to help so badly, but Sans made me promise to never tell Flowey that I could remember too. He didn’t want what was happening to him to happen to me as well. And, if I couldn’t help my brother with this, I at least wanted to keep my promise to him.”

Papyrus sighed heavily, “Then when you came around and reseted the first time, Sans got scared. He thought you were going to be just like Flowey had been. I tried my best to convince him that you were a good human and you wouldn’t hurt us. But, he was still scared, and made me promise to never to tell you that I could remember. He didn’t want me to get hurt because of it.”

Frisk felt numb. It made sense really. If ignorance was bliss, then feigning ignorance was a protection. However, this didn’t do much to get rid of the guilt eating her stomach.

“Papyrus,” Frisk said gently, placing her hand on the skeleton’s arm, “I would never hurt you because of that.”

“I know you wouldn’t,” Papyrus covered his own hand over Frisk’s, but didn’t make eye contact with her, “but the other you might have.”

Once again, Frisk felt sick. She quickly pulled her hand back, “That too?”

“Yes, Sans told me the reset he found out. He told me that you were being possessed by a demon-ghost thingy, or something.”

**“Yeah, or something.”** Chara said with a roll of her eyes.

Nothing was said between them for a while after that. Frisk tried to think of something to say, but just couldn’t find the words. What could she say? She had done so many terrible things. Maybe not directly, but she still felt her sins crawling on her back whenever she thought about those genocide runs. She had seen the toll it had taken on Sans. She couldn’t imagine what Papyrus must have gone through, what he might still be going through, and all alone at that too. Sure, he had Sans, but that was it, and now that Sans was a child, he really did have no one to talk to about this.

Except, maybe herself.

“Can I ask you something?” Frisk was pulled out of her thoughts by Papyrus’ question. She nodded, and the skeleton suddenly looked a little nervous. He wrung his hands together, then asked, “Why did you reset? I can understand your first run through the Underground wasn’t ideal. But what about afterwards? Why would you want to start over when we had our perfect ending?”

. . .

What possible answer could she give him to make him understand?

Frisk felt Chara’s ghostly hands grasp onto her shoulders reassuringly **“I’m right here Frisk. It’s okay.”** Chara comforted her. She then looked up at the skeleton, **“Tell him. He deserves to know what happened.”**

Frisk glanced up at Papyrus, who was looking at her with compassion and love. She sighed in defeat.

“T-The first time I went through the Underground, I was just trying to get out as quickly as I could.” Frisk began. Papyrus adjusted himself on the bed do that he could be fully facing Frisk as she told her tale, 

“I didn’t want to hurt anybody, but they kept trying to take my soul. I only ever beat them up until they gave up. I never killed my first round. But, when I did escape, I tried to get help for Nana, my grandma, but she was already dead. I found out that there was no way I could have saved her. Since I had no living family they could find, they placed me into the foster system, and I lived with a really mean family. They didn’t love me, not like you guys do.”

“When I got Sans’ phone call, I wished with all my heart that I could have helped you all. Then, one night, Flowey showed up near my window. He told me about resets, and how I could go back and make things right. So, that’s what I did. I did my first reset. I made friends instead of fighting. I spared everyone I came in encounter with, and before I knew it we were all together on the surface. But . . . it wasn’t enough for me. There was . . . someone else that I wasn’t able to save. I didn’t want to give up on them though. So, I reset to try again, and again, and again, but nothing I did ever made a difference. I just couldn’t find a way to save them.”

“Then, during one run, I found a door in Waterfall. I had never seen it before, it was like it had appeared out of thin air. So, I decided to go in. I remember opening it, then everything went black. The next thing I knew, I could see myself. My own body, was walking through Waterfall . . . killing monsters. But it wasn’t me. It was like I was just a spectator watching someone else murdering my friends, my family. I had no control over my body. Someone, something, was controlling it and pretending to be me. I tried to stop them. I tried to scream for help, but . . . it was hopeless. I was like a ghost locked out of my own body.”

When a hand was placed on Frisk’s back, she involuntarily flinched. She looked up and saw that it was only Papyrus trying to comfort her. Her body relaxed. “But then, Sans started to figure our what was happening. He helped get the possessor out of my body so that I could reclaim it. When I had control again, I made one last reset.”

Once she finished talking, she tentatively looked up at Papyrus. He seemed deep in his own head, trying to process this new information. Frisk couldn’t read him beyond that, though. She couldn’t tell if he was angry at her, or pitying her.

Frisk looked down at her lap and sniffled, grasping onto her locket like a life line. “I don’t want to start over.” She said as a choked sob escaped of her throat, “I really don’t. I-I’m scared that if I do I’ll lose control again. I’m afraid that I’ll kill you, or mom, or Undyne all over again. I don’t want you to die by my hands again! I love you!”

Papyrus moved to comfort Frisk again, but he stopped when she continued to speak. “B-But, I also don’t want to leave you either. What if Alice takes me away? I-I don’t know if I can stay determined enough if that happens. I-I-I don’t want to go! I want to stay with my family. My _true_ family! I-”

Suddenly, Frisk was pulled into Papyrus’ warm embrace. He pulled the small human into his lap and began rocking her back and forth.

“Frisk.” His voice was calm and soothing, “You are not going anywhere.”

**“Yeah.”** Chara added, complimenting Papyrus’ words. **“I told you so. They would never let you go.”**

Frisk slumped in the skeleton’s hold. “I’m not a good person.” she said, a lump lodged in her throat, “I-If I was, I wouldn’t have let everything spiral out of control the way they did.”

Papyrus brushed his hand through Frisk’s hair, “That’s not true. You are a very good person. Do you know why I would always say that I believed in you?” Frisk shook her head, “Because I had seen it. I saw in different runs how helpful and kind you were to everyone. You are a good human, Frisk. Nothing you do can make me believe otherwise. I’ll always believe in you. Always.”

Frisk’s eyes hurt from the pressure building in them, “B-But what if I can’t do it? W-What if I-”

“You don't have to worry about that. You have a loving family who will always be there to help you when things get hard. Even if we may not understand all the time, we will still help you in any way we can.” 

“We love you Frisk,” Papyrus said with a tender kind of warmth in his voice, “and no matter what you do, I will always be your coolest friend, and you will always be my my bestest friend.”

That was the straw to break the camels back. Frisk couldn’t hold her emotions in anymore. They all came gushing out of her. Every named and unnamed feeling she felt poured out through her tears. She was always an ugly crier. She buried her face into Papyrus’ sweater and mumbled unintelligible things to him.

“I’m so sorry, Papyrus. I’m sorry you had to live through all those terrible resets. I messed up so b-bad! I-I-I-”

“Shh shh. It’s okay Frisk.” Papyrus hushed and comfort the small child, “It wasn’t your fault, and now it’s in the past. I have long since forgiven you. You don’t have to keep apologizing for my sake.”

Frisk continued to sob in Papyrus’ arms. She could feel Chara presence nearby, offering her aura as comfort to the human. She could feel both of their love for her in her soul, and it ached with a painful joy. 

It wasn’t until her eyes had run dry and her head throbbed dully that she finally felt some semblance of peace in her soul. But even then, Papyrus didn’t let go, and he continued to sway and whisper words of encouragement to her.

“Everything will be alright, Frisk.” Papyrus reassured Frisk, tightening his his hug around her, “We’ll figure this out, together.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Although it is the most likely scenario, I hate to think that Sans went through all those terrible resets alone. I like to think that Papyrus was there to help him through it and vice versa. They could have been each others shoulder to cry on and anchor to reality. 
> 
> Anyway, thank you all for being patient with me. I know that I don't post very frequently, so it means a lot to me that you still stick around and read my stories. I hope that you all have a great day. Stay safe out there!


End file.
